Why Liverpool need to rip up their transfer model to replace Mo Salah

Liverpool’s looming post-Mohamed Salah era has arrived. The Egyptian winger’s decision to depart at season’s end has forced sporting director Richard Hughes into the unenviable position of replacing a modern icon, and the club’s traditional transfer philosophy may have to be the first casualty of the rebuild.

For years the Reds have hunted prodigious, value-appreciating talent, but the numbers attached to high-profile targets such as Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise and Sporting’s teenage prodigy Yan Diomande hint at another nine-figure outlay. With a significant fee already committed to centre-back Jeremy Jacquet for 2025, defensive reinforcements still required, and supporter appetite for another midfielder growing, a blockbuster Salah successor no longer looks like sound economics.

Instead, Liverpool could spread the risk—and the cost—across two proven Premier League operators: Fulham’s Harry Wilson and West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen. Both wide men are 29, an age profile that would signal a deliberate pivot away from Anfield’s habit of buying potential rather than finished articles.

The logic is grounded in output. Wilson has registered 16 combined goals and assists in 29 league outings this season, averaging a direct goal involvement every 142 minutes. Bowen, despite the Hammers’ wider turmoil, has still contributed 14 goal involvements in 31 matches, one every 199 minutes. Salah, by comparison, has 11 from 22 appearances—an involvement every 166 minutes.

Efficiency extends beyond raw production. Wilson and Bowen have out-shot Salah for accuracy this campaign, while also drawing 15 and 29 more fouls respectively—precious currency in a season increasingly decided by set-piece margins. Defensively, both have been busier: Wilson has doubled Salah’s tackle count; Bowen has nearly trebled it, offering Arne Slot an immediate counter-pressing dividend.

Crucially, the price tags align with a self-sustaining model. FootballTransfers values Bowen at roughly £37 million, a figure that could plummet if West Ham suffer relegation. Wilson, out of contract in June, would arrive for nothing beyond salary and signing-on costs. Even combined, their weekly wages are projected to fall short of Salah’s current deal, freeing liquidity for squad depth elsewhere.

Rather than chase a single, mythical heir, Hughes can replicate Salah’s collective impact in the aggregate. The forward line has already been supplemented by Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, giving Slot a versatile attacking core. Adding two Premier League-ready wide forwards, comfortable with the division’s physicality and calendar, could complete the jigsaw without mortgaging the future.

In short, ripping up the age-capped, big-money template may be the smartest play Liverpool make all summer—because replacing a king rarely requires another crown. Sometimes, two knights suffice.

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