Sport: Football

 

Liverpool

£33m Premier League Mohamed Salah ‘replacement’ has already been identified by Liverpool

The West Ham forward is improving year on year and is certainly a contender for that position in the future.

Liverpool may have already identified their future Mohamed Salah replacement in West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen.

Salah, 31, was the subject of interest from Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad during the summer transfer window as they saw a bid worth up around £150m rejected.

Their interest is likely to re-emerge next summer, when Salah will have just a year left on his current deal, and he may be allowed to leave if another huge bid comes in.

In a world without Salah, who could possibly be brought in as a replacement for one of the club’s greatest ever players? With such big boots to fill, reports have claimed that they have already identified a few potential stars.

One of those is Bowen, 26, who has been a star performer for West Ham over the course of the past few seasons and The Athletic have claimed that he is one player that Liverpool have kept an eye on, in relation to their list of targets to replace Salah.

Whilst not the most exotic name on paper - perhaps fans would rather see the likes of Rafael Leao or Khvicha Kvaratskhelia signed instead - but Bowen is an out-and-out right-sided attacker with quick feet, pace and an eye for goals and assists and is someone who is always a threat in behind.

They also list Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe, Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka as well as the likes of Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo and PSV’s Johan Bakayoko, but Bowen is certainly one to be seriously considered.

Fans will turn to numbers pretty quickly when trying to find a Salah replacement, who netted 30 goals and provided 16 assists in all competitions last season but the West Ham forward has certainly been consistent in recent years in a lower-performing side.

Bowen has recorded 44 goal contributions across the last two seasons which is certainly a strong return and he also produced a starring moment in the Europa Conference League final, as he netted a 90th minute winner to end West Ham’s near 60-year wait for a European trophy.

Opportunities would certainly be more frequent in front of goal at a top club and the key question would be whether he could fit into a side who dominate the ball more often, as he has already shown he can play as part of a counter-attacking side.