Ronny Rosenthal believes that Liverpool mightn’t need to go big in the transfer market when Mo Salah departs the club, as he reckons Jurgen Klopp already has the perfect successor at Anfield.
The Egyptian was the subject of a £150m transfer offer from the Saudi Pro League a couple of months ago, and while the Reds stood firm in rejecting it (The Guardian), the likelihood is that the wealthiest clubs from the Middle East will try for him again in 2024.
Speaking to TEAMtalk, former LFC striker Rosenthal thinks the 31-year-old will be on the move next year and that it’d be the sensible option for the Merseysiders to cash in.
The ex-Israel forward said: “I expect Mo will go to Saudi and I believe it makes sense to sell when a big offer comes in, with just under two years remaining on his contract at the age of 31.”
The 60-year-old has backed one of Salah’s teammates to step up to the challenge of replacing his goal output, saying: “[Darwin] Nunez was a good signing; he definitely has what it takes to score goals consistently.
“It’s not easy adapting to a first season in England, but you could see he was dangerous with his speed and strength. He’s a player I’d watched before he went to Benfica and you could see he was going to be a very good player.”
When looking at the respective goal outputs of the two Liverpool attackers, Nunez has actually been slightly more efficient than Salah.
The Uruguayan has struck seven times in 675 minutes on the pitch (one goal every 96.43 minutes), while the Egyptian has 10 goals in 1,038 minutes so far (one for every 103.8 minutes), as per Transfermarkt.
The Reds’ number 9 looks very capable of stepping up to become the team’s goal-getter in chief if the 31-year-old were to move on, although Klopp would still need a right winger to take Salah’s place in the line-up.
Also, Liverpool can’t afford to leave themselves in a situation where the Egypt legend is sold and not replaced, and Nunez then succumbs to a long-term injury.
Even with the Uruguay marksman now flying at Anfield, LFC must still ensure that they’ll bring in a like-for-like successor to their iconic number 11 who’d be of almost the same quality before they sanction the exit of their fifth-highest goalscorer of all time.