Liverpool will lose their superstar at the end of the 2025/26 season as manager Mohamed Salah has confirmed this will be his last season at Anfield.
The Egyptian international, who spent nine seasons with the Reds, has revealed he will leave the club on a free transfer in the summer, one year ahead of his contract deadline.
The left-footed star will move from Merseyside as a bona fide Liverpool legend after winning two Premier League titles and the Champions League trophy during his time at the club.
To date, Salah has played 436 games for the Reds in all competitions, scoring 255 goals and providing 122 assists, and is almost always a threat at the top end of the pitch.
The challenge facing Richard Hughes and his recruiting team this summer is finding a way to replace his production with a new contract player, or multiple new contract players, to strengthen the attack for next season.
Liverpool will have to decide whether they want to commit to signing an expensive instant superstar, almost certain to replace Salah in front of goal, or whether they want to sign a few promising players with the potential to become superstars.
The Reds are currently being linked with potentially signing a player who falls into the former category, but it would be an incredibly expensive move to complete.
According to TEAMtalk, Liverpool are one of the teams that could sign Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior in next summer’s transfer window.
According to reports, intermediaries have contacted the Reds, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United over a potential deal for the Brazil international.
He added that his current contract expires at the end of next season, but his next contract is expected to earn him more than £500,000 a week.
TEAMtalk reveals that Real Madrid have made an offer for the star forward but are unwilling to improve, meaning Vinicius will have to make a big decision in the coming weeks.
According to the newspaper, the Whites are considering signing him this summer unless they opt for a clean slate in terms of extension negotiations, which would open the door for Liverpool to sign the winger. Speaking of cash, previous reports last year suggested that £130m could be needed to sign him from the Bernabéu.
Why Vinicius is the perfect successor to Salah
Although Vinicius does not play on the right wing, the Brazilian star has the third-last quality to be the perfect replacement for Salah at the heart of Liverpool’s attack.
The left-winger’s form in Real Madrid’s Champions League in recent seasons has shown him to be similar to Salah at the peak of his career, given his outstanding rate of goals and assists at the top level.
To date, Salah has played 97 Champions League games, scoring 50 goals and providing 21 assists, averaging one goal or assist every 1.37 games.
Vinicius, on the other hand, has 34 goals and 32 assists in 80 games in this competition, which means he has an average of one goal or assist every 1.21 games.
Salah was at his peak in 2017-18 with 10 goals and five assists, and the Real Madrid star is just three goals shy of that tally with five goals and seven assists this season with games remaining.
25/26 Champions League | Vinicius Junior | Salah |
|---|---|---|
Appearance | 12 | 9 |
the goal | 5 | 3 |
A big opportunity has arisen | 6 | 8 |
assist | 4 | 2 |
Number of successful dribbles per game | 1.8 | 1.2 |
The Brazil international, described as a “superstar” by Luka Modric, has outperformed the Liverpool forward in this season’s competitions.
In addition to equaling or bettering Salah in his Champions League prime, Vinicius has also been active in La Liga domestic football for Real, scoring 22 goals in the division since the start of last season.
The talented 25-year-old has scored 21 or more goals in three of the past four seasons and needs three more goals this term to make it four in a row, and will arrive at Anfield as a bona fide megastar for Arne Slott.
With Salah’s departure, Vinicius would be the perfect signing to take over as the team’s superstar. Because he has proven both domestically and on the European stage that he can be trusted to carry the weight of expectations in front of goal.
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But his £500,000-a-week wage and the possibility of signing a contract extension at Madrid means any deal will not be easy for the Reds.
