Liverpool's Dilemma: Replacing Mohamed Salah and Missed Opportunities

Liverpool’s summer business is still being picked apart, and one decision sits at the centre of it all: how do you replace Mohamed Salah – and did they even really try?

The club poured a staggering £123m into Bradley Barcola on the penultimate day of the window, a fee that sits just under their transfer record and screams of long-term planning. The Frenchman now walks into Anfield with the impossible brief of matching Salah’s numbers, stepping into the shadow of a player who has climbed to third on Liverpool’s all-time scoring charts and become a modern icon.

There’s a twist, though. Barcola is at his most dangerous from the left. That’s a lane already crowded with options in this Liverpool squad.

On the right, where Salah terrorised full-backs for years, there is no like-for-like heir. No obvious successor. And that, Stephen Warnock believes, is the gamble that could come back to bite Fenway Sports Group.

“Ultimately, yes, it could cost them,” Warnock told TEAMtalk in association with Gambler Media, when asked if failing to sign a direct right-sided replacement might hurt Liverpool.

He understands the scale of the problem. How do you mimic Salah?

“Was there an adequate replacement that they thought could replicate what Salah was doing? I don’t think there is an adequate replacement because what Salah did was phenomenal.”

Liverpool did try to move late. They made a play for Ismaila Sarr and saw two bids knocked back for Yankuba Minteh. Neither deal landed. Warnock was left unconvinced by the timing and profile of one of those chases.

“Liverpool will have a valuation on players who they are willing to reach, and I found it quite strange that they decided to go in for Ismaila Sarr so late in the transfer window, with his age and his price. However, it is understandable why they didn’t pursue that move too much, probably down to Crystal Palace’s stance on him but also his age.”

Minteh, at 22, looks a very different proposition – younger, with scope to grow into a major role.

“Yankuba Minteh is an interesting one because you wonder whether they’d have really pushed for that move had he been fully fit,” Warnock said.

What really jars with him is the lack of succession planning for a departure that never came as a surprise.

“The funny thing is that they have known for so long about Salah leaving, but they still haven’t found a replacement. I always think you should be looking two or three seasons ahead; with injuries, dips in form, you’ve always got to be thinking about who is next in line.

“I just feel like Liverpool haven’t rectified that situation, and I find it absolutely incredible to be honest. I think they possibly will go back in for Minteh in January, but there might be someone else who pops up on the radar between now and then…”

Semenyo and Diomande: the ones that got away?

Barcola’s arrival ended a near year-long pursuit of the former PSG man, yet he was not the first name on Liverpool’s attacking shortlist.

The club had tracked Antoine Semenyo last January, only to watch Manchester City strike a £62.5m deal. Earlier this summer, they also spent weeks circling Yan Diomande before backing away from a £100m valuation.

Warnock cannot get his head around the Semenyo decision.

“I found it really strange at the time that they didn’t buy Semenyo,” he said.

“For the price he was at, and yes, it was inflated, but he’s a proven Premier League player, an absolute powerhouse who scores goals, reliable, durable – he just ticks every single box.

“I didn’t think he’d do what he’s done at Man City so quickly; I thought it would have taken him some time to settle in, but I think Liverpool really missed out on one there.”

Minteh’s name comes up again as a possible January fix, but Warnock is wary of how little time that window offers.

“I can see them going back in for Minteh, but it really depends on his form between now and January once he gets himself back fit, but it’s going to be very difficult as that is such a short window.”

On Diomande, the former Liverpool defender sees a talented player, but not at the price being quoted.

“Yan Diomande was one they also wanted, but having seen him at the World Cup, I’m not entirely sure he’d be the right fit for £100 million, I think £50-60 million would have been a realistic value for him, but everyone works on potential now and thinks about what they might be capable of in 10 years’ time.”

While the debate rages over who Liverpool didn’t sign, Barcola has already sparked noise of his own. Jamie Carragher’s 14-word tweet about the Frenchman went viral and was gleefully shared across the fanbase.

The stakes are obvious. If Barcola flies and a right-sided solution emerges, FSG’s caution in the market will look measured. If not, those missed moves for Semenyo, Minteh and others will be replayed every time Liverpool look to that right flank and see only the ghost of Salah.