A current Premier League player has been talked up as a viable replacement for Mo Salah at Liverpool if the Egyptian leaves Anfield in the near future.
The 31-year-old has been the subject of a £150m offer from the Saudi Pro League, but the Reds swiftly knocked it back and are continuing to insist he won’t be sold before the Middle Eastern country’s transfer deadline (Sky Sports).
Nonetheless, the discourse surrounding a potential big-money move to Al-Ittihad isn’t going away, and even if the Merseysiders are able to hold onto the African legend for this season, this whole episode may force them to start looking towards life after their iconic number 11.
In his column for the Daily Express on Sunday morning, Charlie Gordon made the case for Jarrod Bowen to be considered as the Egyptian’s eventual heir at Liverpool.
The journalist pointed out how the West Ham winger ‘has effectively played his way into Salah replacement contention’ after a superb start to the season, also referencing previous comments from Jurgen Klopp in which he dubbed the 26-year-old ‘an unbelievable player’.
Gordon added: “Positionally, the England international is effectively a carbon copy of Salah, in that he starts out on the right before making runs inside and using his potent left foot to do the rest.”
He signed off by suggesting that a ‘good performance’ from Bowen when the Hammers visit Anfield in three weeks’ time ‘could make the Liverpool manager’s mind up over a possible January move’.
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Everyone associated with Liverpool will obviously be hoping that the legendary Egypt forward stays put for at least one more season, but when the time comes to look at replacing the massive void he’ll leave, the Reds could probably do a lot worse than Bowen, who’s also a natural right winger.
At 26, he’s in the prime of his career while still having plenty more mileage in the tank, while he wouldn’t need any adaptation period, having already played 136 times in the Premier League and netted 30 goals (Transfermarkt).
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His strike against Luton on Friday night took him to three in four games at the start of the season (Transfermarkt), and his ability to make an impact on the big occasion was highlighted with his last-gasp winner for West Ham in the Europa Conference League final earlier this year.
Another plus point to signing Bowen is that, as an England international, he’d help with the homegrown quota for domestic and European squads. That’s a very pertinent issue for Liverpool, who’ve been unable to fill their permissible roster of 25 for the Premier League for the first half of 2023/24 (Liverpool Echo).
The Irons attacker isn’t at the same level as Salah – in fairness, only a handful of current players are – but if the Reds are eventually left with no choice but to look beyond their current number 11, the 26-year-old could well be worth considering.
#Ep88 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️