Liverpool told to sign Salah replacement after Klopp's "already gone" admission

11 October 2023 , 06:32

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Liverpool told to sign Salah replacement after Klopp's "already gone" admission

Liverpool have been urged to sign Napoli sensation Khvicha Kvaratskhelia should Mo Salah leave Anfield.

The Egyptian forward has been strongly linked with a move away from the club over the past year. Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad were interested in signing him in the summer and had a series of bids rejected by Liverpool.

Talk over an exit has not subsided and former Reds star Stephen Warnock has suggested that Kvaratskhelia could be an ideal replacement should Salah be sold. Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: “Everyone’s replaceable. I’ve said it about Suarez, I’ve said it about Coutinho, and he [Salah] will be replaceable in time.

"I think the big problem is with Salah if you get a £175million offer from Saudi Arabia that’s difficult to say no to. I wouldn’t sell him in January but maybe next season, but only if you’ve got someone else lined up.

"You’d have to have someone exciting lined up, the one player that springs to mind is Kvaratskhelia. He’s the one player you look at where you think he’s young and has potential and can play, but he’s a left-sided player, could he play on the right?”

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A deal for Kvaratskhelia will not be cheap under any circumstances. The Georgian winger’s agent said last November that any deal would be worth around €100million (£87m).

Liverpool have been urged to sign Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Getty Images)

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That price will likely have increased since. The 22-year-old scored 14 goals and notched 17 assists last term as Napoli won Serie A and reached the Champions League quarter-finals.

He actually came up against Liverpool in the competition last season, with Jurgen Klopp expressing his admiration of the forward. The German said: “He is a good player, both are good players. It was a really difficult one. I know people will talk about one or two situations with Trent [Alexander-Arnold] when he tried to get in front of him and the ball goes through.

“He is really good, the boy. Really quick, we have to defend it well together in these moments. When he has the advantage of the first moment, then he is already gone.

“You have to try to be there in the moment when the ball arrives. If you cannot to do that, you need to be protected because he has speed. He is cheeky, he can go inside, he goes outside, that always makes him difficult. A good player.”

Kvaratskhelia has continued his excellent displays this term with one goal and four assists to his name so far. He has four years left to run on his contract at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Meanwhile, his potential predecessor Salah is in the midst of another impressive season. The 31-year-old has six goals and four assists to his name in all competitions heading into the October internationals.

Daniel Orme