Liverpool's Front Line: Iraola's Strategy in Replacing Salah

Bradley Barcola did not arrive quietly. £123 million, prised from Paris Saint-Germain, a Champions League winner dropped straight into the storm of replacing a 257-goal phenomenon on Merseyside. That kind of fee usually comes with a simple instruction: go and be the main man.

The problem? He prefers the left.

So do Cody Gakpo, Rio Ngumoha and Victor Munoz. All of them, by instinct, drift towards the same patch of grass. Andoni Iraola, tasked with reshaping Liverpool’s attack after Mohamed Salah’s exit, has had to twist the board, spin the pieces and improvise on the right.

The Salah gap is obvious. Filling it is anything but.

A right wing without a natural heir

Liverpool did look for one. Yankuba Minteh at Brighton. Ismaila Sarr at Crystal Palace. Both right-sided, both seen as potential successors to the two-time Premier League title winner. Bids went in, but nothing stuck. Domestic rivals held firm, and Liverpool walked away.

They could have panicked. They didn’t.

Rather than sliding down the list to options C, D or E, the club chose patience. No late scramble, no overpaying just to soothe the anxiety of a fanbase staring at an empty right flank. The plan: make do with what’s in the building, reassess in January, and trust the structure.

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy understands that call.

Speaking to GOAL courtesy of Snabbare, he pointed straight at the logic behind the restraint. The rumours around Minteh and Sarr? Real, he said. The need for a right-sided threat? Acknowledged inside the club. But the response was deliberate.

“There were a lot of rumours around trying to get Minteh and Sarr in, who are obviously more right-sided players, so they're obviously aware of it,” Murphy said. “But I think, as a football club, there's something to be said for not buying somebody or getting somebody just to fill.”

That’s the crux. Liverpool believe they already have intelligent, flexible forwards who can operate on that side, even if it’s not their favourite starting position.

Murphy has seen Barcola play off the right. He backs Gakpo’s intelligence to adapt there and still carry a goal threat. He even pointed to a specific moment – Gakpo’s assist from the right in the Forest game – as proof that this isn’t a wild experiment, it’s a workable solution.

“So they probably looked at what they already had when they couldn't get Sarr or Minteh,” Murphy added, “and thought, ‘you know what, let's not rush and get someone in who doesn't quite fit the criteria’. So I understand it.”

Refusing to be held to ransom

This is where the transfer market reality bites. “You don't always get what you want in a window,” Murphy said. Liverpool have already spent heavily. The idea of being “held to ransom” for a wide forward who doesn’t quite fit the profile never appealed.

The preference is clear. In an ideal world, Iraola would have a more orthodox right-sided winger to plug straight into that Salah role, a natural touchline hugger who can still step inside and finish. But ideal worlds rarely exist in modern recruitment.

“So in an ideal world you'd want a more orthodox right-sided player, I agree with that,” Murphy admitted, before circling back to what Iraola does have. Munoz has already shown flashes on that side. Gakpo can play there. Barcola can shuffle across when required.

“Ultimately do I think they've got enough for now in Munoz, who's shown glimpses on that side, and Gakpo can play that side and even Barcola? I think they've got enough.”

It’s not a romantic answer. It’s a pragmatic one.

Improvisation that’s working – for now

The early evidence backs that up. Gakpo, Ngumoha, Munoz and Barcola have all taken turns on the right in the opening weeks of the 2026-27 season. It’s been a rotation born of necessity, but it hasn’t disrupted results.

One moment in particular underlines the point. Away at Bournemouth, Gakpo pulled wide to the right, pinned his full-back, burst down the touchline and whipped in a low ball. Alexander Isak met it, Liverpool won it. A makeshift right winger decided the game.

That kind of sequence doesn’t erase Salah’s legacy. It does, though, show that Liverpool can still hurt teams from that channel without a like-for-like replacement.

Across the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup, Iraola’s side remain unbeaten. The absence of a “new Salah” has not yet become a crisis, or even a major talking point inside the dressing room. Results have a way of calming the noise.

January questions and a long shadow

The story isn’t finished. Interest in Minteh and Sarr has not disappeared, only been parked. Both are understood to be keen on a move to Anfield, and Liverpool could easily circle back in early 2027 or next summer if the right deal opens up.

For now, though, the club is betting on flexibility over orthodoxy, on intelligence over pure profile. Left-footers on the right, right-footers on the left, interchanging lanes rather than fixed positions. It’s modern, it’s fluid, and it’s a gamble taken with eyes open.

Salah’s shadow still stretches over that right wing. The question is no longer who replaces him like-for-like. It’s whether Liverpool can build something different – and just as dangerous – before the transfer window forces their hand again.