Who is Liverpool’s star forward? Is it Mohamed Salah?
It wasn’t until May that the 33-year-old overcame his team victory at Liverpool to pick up a number of individual awards. With his decisive role in Arne Slott’s winning debut, Salah erased any doubts that he is one of the greatest players in Premier League history.
But even Salah will retire at some point, and the start of the 2025/26 season will serve as a reminder of concerns that he is past his prime and part of the problem at Slot, with Liverpool losing three games in a row this season and lacking any of the fluency and momentum they displayed for most of last season.
It’s clear that he and FSG feel the story is far from over, given that the Egyptian King signed a new two-year deal on Merseyside in April, but sporting director Richard Hughes has nevertheless added quality to Liverpool’s attacking line, with Alexander Isak the centerpiece.
Why Liverpool signed Alexander Isak
For nine years, Liverpool have boasted Salah as their star goalscorer, but the record-breaking addition of Isak from Newcastle United on transfer deadline day highlights the changing position at Anfield. The balance of attack power has collapsed.
Last season, Isak scored 27 goals in all competitions for Newcastle. He scored the decisive second goal in a 2–1 win against Slott Reds at Wembley in March. It was there that he lifted the Carabao Cup.
With a number of attacking players departing this summer, FSG decided to spend big on a striker who was already established as one of the best players in the business. Isak is expected to lead a chapter filled with trophies and produce products for many years to come.
Salah, adopted son of Liverpool. But he is getting older and even if he does return to the same dizzying level he had in 2024/25, it will surely be short-lived compared to the potential of some of his Liverpool team-mates.
Like Isaac. The Sweden international is 26 years old and is fully accustomed to a career in the Premier League. Pundit Ally McCoist has already described him as England’s “best all-round centre-forward”.
But he’s not Salah. Instead, Liverpool may find a player in their ranks who is close to, if not perfect in position, a natural replacement for the £400,000-a-week superstar.
Slot unique salar type sign
When Salah first arrived at Liverpool, he arrived under intense scrutiny. Scroll through the archives and you’ll find plenty of criticism of Jurgen Klopp when he oversaw the £34m signing of former Chelsea Roma winger Salah, who failed to impress.
But nine years on, he is a Liverpool legend, winning more than just silver medals and scoring more than his fair share of goals.
Now that Salah has retired, Hugo Ekitike could step up as a new version of the talisman, and there are some interesting similarities between the two.
Liverpool felt they had signed one of the best young forwards in the business when he arrived from Eintracht Frankfurt for an initial fee of £69 million this summer. In fact, talent scout Jacek Kulig said of the Frenchman during his time at Eintracht Frankfurt: “He can definitely reach the level of a world-class striker.”
But this is a big deal for the 23-year-old, who has struggled at big clubs so far. Ekitike was traded from his native Reims to superpowers Paris Saint-Germain before moving to Germany, arriving in July 2022 for a fee of €35 million (approximately £30.5 million).
However, Liverpool, described by Liverpool correspondent David Lynch as a “goal machine”, brought themselves a much more complete and prepared version.
In 33 appearances for the French capital, all the goals he scored were four. This is similar to Salah’s return to Chelsea, where he scored two goals and provided three assists for the Blues before being sold to Roma.
But Liverpool’s scouting team have known them for a long time, and Ekitike’s underlying stats are impressive. In fact, looking at his performance over the past year, it is difficult to distinguish between the up-and-coming player and the powerful Isak, which is a great testament to his qualities.
Alexander Isak vs Hugo Ekitike (last 12 months) | ||
|---|---|---|
Statistics (per 90) | Isaac | capital |
Number of points scored | 0.76 | 0.50 |
assist | 0.21 | 0.24 |
shot taken | 3.13 | 3.65 |
The action that creates the shot | 2.96 | 3.15 |
touch (to pen) | 6.16 | 6.46 |
Pass completion rate (%) | 75.4 | 75.0 |
progressive path | 3.23 | 1.96 |
progressive carry | 2.65 | 2.78 |
successful take-up | 1.38 | 1.61 |
Number of balls collected | 1.93 | 2.38 |
aerial won | 0.89 | 1.83 |
Data via FBref | ||
There’s not much that distinguishes the two. Isak is a more polished and effective goalscorer, while Ekitike is more complete and aggressive with the ball, and also uses his head better.
These are rare centre-forwards, and Liverpool now have a frontman with the qualities to take over the reins from Salah and lead Slot’s team to further glory in the coming years. Isak is the product of years of development in the Premier League, but Ekitike knows what it’s like to be one of the continent’s best hitters and fall by the wayside, and he shares that with Salah.
Ekitike has started his life in the Reds well, scoring five goals and providing one assist in his first 10 games as Liverpool’s striker. Salah similarly broke the Premier League goalscoring record in 38 games on his first return to England.
Admittedly, whether Ekitike will achieve the same degree of success is debatable, but it is true that Liverpool have done exceptional business this summer and while FSG must now turn to identifying a successor on the right flank in the coming period, Salah’s proverbial heir has been found and brought in in the form of Ekitike.
He’s ready to reach the top.
