Salah's future at Liverpool is still uncertain, although he has publicly stated that he plans to stay at the club and fight for the championship for the fans. However, the interest of the Saudi Professional League in him and the conflict between him and Klopper caused some rumors. Liverpool may be considering introducing Bakayoko or Rafinha as a potential successor to Salah. Liverpool's recruitment team will continue to focus on the market and evaluate possible alternatives.
Three hours and forty minutes after Slote officially announced that he would become the new manager of Liverpool, Salah seems to have publicly promised that his future still belongs to Liverpool. He said: "We know that the most important thing is to win the championship. We will do everything possible to achieve the goal of winning the championship next season. Our fans deserve all this, and we will work hard for it."
It seems that Salah plans to stay at Liverpool next season, although in the game against West Ham United, Salah and Klopp openly broke out in conflict. Rumors about his future are growing. Salah's agent reportedly confirmed to Liverpool fans during the match that he would stay.
Of course, this does not stop the rumors about the Egyptian striker, especially the interest of the Saudi professional league. The Echo reported last week that Liverpool were preparing for Saudi Arabia's further interest in Salah. Last summer, Jeddah United offered Salah at a price of 150 million pounds, but was rejected by Liverpool. Meanwhile, Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ministry of Public Entertainment (GEA) of Saudi Arabia, recently claimed that Salah had actually agreed to move to the Saudi League last summer, but Liverpool changed its mind at the last minute.
Therefore, the fans were relieved to see Salah publicly express his intention to win the championship in Liverpool and fight "crazily" for the fans next season. For a person who seldom makes comments to the media and is very cautious in choosing the time to speak, this kind of comments makes the fans feel relieved.
Last year, he also shared his frustration on social media after confirming that Liverpool would not qualify for the 2023/24 European Champions League. But the point is that at that time he did not promise to stay at the club, but said that he would continue to play in the European league.
Next season, Liverpool will return to the Champions League, while Salah's contract will expire in 2025. He will celebrate his 32nd birthday in June. Although he contributed 25 goals and 13 assists to the club in the 2023-2024 season and became the king of the club's shooters for the seventh consecutive season, the number of his goals fell for the first time since the 2019-2020 season. The number of his goals exceeded 30 for the previous three consecutive seasons, and the number of his assists was also lower than the last two seasons.
There are injuries to this decline, and Salah will not always be young. Liverpool will need a long-term replacement sooner or later. His expiring contract makes the need even more urgent.
During his career at Liverpool, Salah has always been a regular guest of Klopp's starting lineup. Under Klopp, he has contributed 211 goals and 87 assists, and no player has better goal statistics than him.
Klopper witnessed the peak of Salah. Now, Slote must manage his old age, and his regular starting position is increasingly not guaranteed.
In the match against West Ham United, Salah clashed with Klopp. With Liverpool's weak attack in recent months, the call for strengthening the front line this summer is also increasing.
When Mane was sold to Bayern Munich and Filmino was released after his contract expired, the way Liverpool supplemented the substitutes might have implied something. Luis Diaz and Jacopo signed in the transfer window in January, and Nunez signed in the same summer when Mane left.
Although Liverpool has many versatile strikers who can play a role on the left wing and center, Salah is the only natural and experienced right winger. Therefore, although it seems that the genius will not leave, no one can guarantee that he will stay at Liverpool on the day when the summer window closes.
Journalist Sacha Tavolieri claimed that PSV PSV Eindhoven's Joao Bakayoko has attracted the attention of Liverpool. Since March 2023, Liverpool has been following him. He also claimed that Liverpool were still considering Barcelona's Rafinha, a Brazilian player who had attracted Liverpool's attention when he played at Leeds United. However, Rafinha will turn 28 next season, so he is more like a short-term choice in case Salah suddenly leaves this summer. In contrast, the 21-year-old Bakayoko is more suitable to replace Salah.
Slote knows Bakayoko very well. This season, Bakayoko played 48 games, scored 14 goals and assisted 14 times in various competitions, helping PSV Eindhoven win the league championship. At the same time, he only lost one game in six clashes with Slote's previous team.
Sacha Tavolieri personally hopes to go to a team that can play in the Champions League.
Whether he has enough experience to succeed Salah is another matter. Luis Dias was 25 when he joined Liverpool, while Jacopo and Nunez were only 23 and 22 when they joined. Compared with the Belgian's 83 match experience so far, the two young players had 159 and 139 professional game experiences when they moved to Anfield.
Salah seems to be staying, which is actually good news for Bakayoko. If he comes to Liverpool now, he will have time to gradually adapt to the pace of the team and gain more experience at Anfield. Eventually, he may succeed Salah and have his own position in Liverpool.
However, no matter whether Liverpool will pursue the Belgian player this summer or not, the club's recruitment team will continue to focus on the market and evaluate the possible long-term successor of Salah.
Whether Salah will leave is no longer a question. The question is when he will leave. According to his latest statement, he may indeed stay this summer, but the search for his ultimate successor will continue.
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