Why Liverpool need to rip up their transfer model to replace Mo Salah | OneFootball

Mo Salah’s time at Liverpool is almost over and replacing him will be no easy feat.

When the Egyptian King announced he would be leaving at the end of the season many supporters took the time to look back at his illustrious career, but some are asking the question: what comes next?

The Reds have known for a while that the day would come when Salah needed to be replaced, that has become even clearer over the course of this season.

After a spell out of the team before Christmas rumours began to swirl, and now Richard Hughes is faced with the very real task of having to replace one of the club’s best ever players.

Liverpool need to break away from their model to replace Mo Salah

There has been plenty of talk about who could replace Salah at Anfield, with big money moves for the likes of Michael Olise and Yan Diomande getting supporters excited.

Whilst it is entirely possible Liverpool go down that road and spend big to replace the 33-year-old, they should be looking at a more cost-effective method.

A sizeable fee has already been committed to bringing in Jeremy Jacquet next summer and the defence needs more back up. An additional midfielder wouldn’t go amiss for lots of supporters either.

Splashing out on a Salah replacement isn’t smart business for Liverpool, but signing two Premier League proven forwards would be.

The Reds should look no further than Harry Wilson and Jarrod Bowen to fill the gap left by Salah.

Wilson and Bowen are both 29-years-old, so signing them would mark a clear step away from Liverpool’s usual policy of recruiting young talent yet to hit their prime.

Wilson and Bowen are the ultimate ‘Moneyball’ signings

Rather than trying to replace Salah with a singular player, a nearly impossible prospect, the Reds should look to replace their talisman in the aggregate.

Arne Slot’s side have already recently improved their forward options, with Hugo Ekitke, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz all highly capable, so the additions of proven Premier League forwards like Bowen and Wilson could complete the Reds’ attack.

Wilson is enjoying his best season to date, having scored or assisted 16 times in 29 league appearances this season, that’s a goal involvement every 142 minutes.

Bowen has struggled at times this campaign, but that can be partly put down to West Ham’s struggles in general. The Englishman still has 14 goal involvements in 31 league matches, or a goal involvement every 199 minutes.

In comparison, Salah has managed 11 goal involvements this campaign from 22 league appearances, or a goal involvement every 166 minutes.

Both Wilson and Bowen have both been more accurate with their shooting than Salah this campaign, and have also both won considerably more fouls. 15 more for Wilson, 29 more for Bowen.

In a league that has been dominated by set pieces this season, winning that many more fouls is a huge positive for the Reds.

Both wingers have also won considerably more tackles, Wilson 100% more than Salah and Bowen 175% more, meaning their additions could help solidify the Reds and would aid in winning the ball back higher up the field.

The biggest positive when assessing Wilson and Bowen is cost. West Ham look in real danger of going down and, if they do, Bowen could be available at a very tempting price.

FootballTransfers value Bowen at ~£37 million, but if West Ham go down that fee could drop considerably.

Wilson will be available on a free transfer come the summer and even adding both wingers would likely add up to less than the weekly cost of Salah’s current wages.