As Mo Salah’s iconic tenure nears its end, Liverpool eyes two explosive young wingers to ignite a new era of attacking dominance at Anfield.
Who should Liverpool buy to replace Salah this summer?
Mohamed Salah’s departure will be a huge loss for Liverpool, both on and off the pitch. For nine years, he consistently delivered at least 20 goals and assists per season, underlining just how central he was to Liverpool’s attack.
Among the many names linked with replacing the Egyptian, two candidates stand out: Bradley Barcola and Yan Diomande.
Barcola, a Lyon academy graduate, joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2023 for £43 million. Since then, he has made 88 appearances and scored 29 goals, although he has struggled at times to establish himself as a guaranteed starter in PSG’s star-studded attack.
Last season, Barcola made 29 league appearances out of a possible 34, starting 21 matches, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembélé often preferred. Despite that, he still contributed 12 goals and assists in the league, while adding another six goal contributions in the Champions League across 15 appearances, 12 of them starts. Across all competitions, he finished the 2024/25 season with 21 goals and 18 assists — showing that he is capable of high attacking returns
REUTERS/Abdul SaboorThe main concern would be whether Barcola could make the leap from being part of a rotation at PSG to becoming one of the leading figures in a Liverpool attack that struggled for cutting edge last season. Liverpool scored just 63 league goals, their lowest total in a Premier League campaign since 2015/16.
Still, Barcola possesses attributes that could help maximise the current Liverpool squad. Clocked at a top speed of 36.72 kp/h in the Champions League last season, he would offer the kind of direct running in behind that could complement creative players such as Florian Wirtz and Dominik Szoboszlai. His versatility across the front line would also give Arne Slot tactical flexibility.
The French forward is reportedly valued at a price tag of over £70 million this summer, according to Transfermarkt, and with his PSG contract running until 2028, the Parisians are not under any immediate pressure to sell.
The other forward strongly linked with a move to Anfield is Yan Diomande. The 19-year-old winger enjoyed a breakthrough season with RB Leipzig since signing for £17m last summer, scoring 13 goals and registering nine assists in 36 appearances across all competitions.
RB Leipzig's Yan Diomande in action with St. Pauli's Abdoulie Ceesay and Fin Stevens - REUTERSDiomande’s explosive pace immediately made him one of the Bundesliga’s most dangerous transition threats, with the winger ranking among the three fastest players in the league. He also became the 2nd youngest player to score a Bundesliga hat-trick, even younger than Erling Haaland, highlighting the scale of his potential.
However, the concerns surrounding him are valid. At just 19, this has been his first full season in professional football, making the reported £87.3 million valuation difficult to justify. Liverpool also spent heavily last summer, with a net spend exceeding £250 million, raising further questions about whether FSG would be willing to commit another enormous fee to such an inexperienced player.
Ultimately, there are still unanswered questions about both forwards. Barcola appears to be the safer option due to his stronger track record at the highest level, while Diomande arguably offers the greater long-term ceiling.
But perhaps there is a wider issue: there is no ready-made replacement for Salah. Players capable of delivering his level of consistency over nearly a decade are exceptionally rare. Liverpool may not be searching for the “next Salah” at all, but instead for the beginning of a new era.
