As if Mo Salah drinks sugary soft drinks…
First of all, let me say I want Mo Salah to stay. He is our most reliable scorer of goals.
The hypothetical premise I offered up was that if we don’t qualify for CL, and Mo was open to a move, say to PSG, we should consider the offer.
I would definitely want to recruit another forward, so I am not sure where the idea of no replacement came in.
For argument’s sake, let’s say that next season we have this group of forwards:
Nunez
Diaz
Gakpo
Jota
Diaby
Doak
Would any of them score as many as Mo this season? Probably not.
But the comparison for me would be the whole group v the whole group.
So would I trust the group of strikers above to score as many goals as the group of strikers we had this season? Yes I would. Or at the least to be in the range. And as we move forward, to go on to surpass what this season’s group of strikers did.
I think there is a lot more to come from Nunez, and the overall age of the group will be significantly lowered as a new team emerges.
Refresh the midfield behind this group of strikers, with two of the quality we all want to see, and we are in business.
I don’t agree to be honest.
Given the failure of this season and the need for a midfield rebuild, I think its essential that we keep Mo where he is. I don’t see another of our firwards supplying the goals he has guaranteed in his time here.
Why change the part of the team that really isn’t broken?
In the hypothetical situation of him leaving, I didn’t say “no replacement” but I did question an adequate replacement.
To inject a thirty goal a season striker would cost as much as you would get for Mo. So why change?
Concentrate on midfield.
Build towatlrds summer 24 to revamp the forwards.
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Revamp the forwards? I bloody hope we won’t have to do it, we have spent a nice sum of money on new forwards lately. So, they better start producing soon. We’ll see if Salah leaves in 2025 when his contract ends. Then, we will certainly have a clearer idea what we need to do next. I just don’t see any massive offer incoming, him wanting to leave and us wanting to sell.
Fair enough, disagreement is fine!
I wouldn’t want to sell Mo, as in take action to make it happen, as he is a smashing player and our most reliable source of goals. The difference between us is that for me, if suitable offer came in, and he was open to it too, I would do the deal.
My thinking is that at some point Mo will be declining. It might only be a bit by next season, it’s hard to say. The point being, I think we will get less and less money as we move forward, to meaningfully reinvest into the team. Maybe 100M this summer, and possibly even half that the following summer.
But the price, for me, isn’t the only factor.
As I look at our strikers, we have not yet found the right blend. The whole is less than the sum of its parts, and I actually think a better blend will emerge without our current best striker. Almost like taking a step back to progress further.
I feel that the longer Mo is in situ, the harder it is for the right combo of Nunez, Diaz, Gakpo and Jota to emerge and do their thing.
In a world without Mo I see a front three of:
Nunez Gakpo Diaz
Backed up by Jota, new man say Diaby, and Doak as a sixth option.
If we sold Mo for 100M then I would use half for Diaby, a versatile fast winger; and the other half for a midfielder, say Kone or Thuram.
With the budget we do already have, it could be spent in a more concentrated fashion on another midfielder and a central defender, only now perhaps we can buy better players if we don’t have to spread it so thin? Maybe Caicedo and Gvardiol.
Just sort of spelling out a hypothetical as to what I would do.
I think overall the team would be better and the age would reduce too.
Not a hill I’d die on, and if Mo stays he is our most reliable goalscorer.
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He might use it as a mixer with his jack daniels
You just never know…
Agree completely and would also be comfortable with Mo moving on.
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Basically swapping a guarantee for a hypothetical
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Sell Mo for the ability to bring in Bellingham?
Yes, but he’s nowhere near dropping off
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No, the ‘ability’ to bring in Bellingham is pretty meaningless if he wants to go to Madrid
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I did read,on here i think, that he wanted to come to us first and then in a few years move to Madrid,but we moved on when Dortmund told us the price.
I hear what you are saying, and just want to agree that Mo is our most reliable source of goals.
But the comparison I was making is not Mo versus any other individual.
The comparison is the group of strikers we’ve seen this season, with Mo; versus the group of strikers next season, without Mo, and a new winger added e.g. Diaby, plus the rest of the money being added to the budget to improve the quality we have in midfield.
My hypothesis is the latter will be better, overall, though I fully accept the newer strikers will have to step up and deliver. At that point I would back Nunez, Diaz and Gakpo to get us the goals, with Jota and Diaby weighing in too.
I doubt that any of them would get as many as Mo (Nunez might) but the group will be fine, and next season would only be season one for the new group. It will be the start, as presumably they will have years to grow and develop further together.
That sort of evolution of teams has always been how it is. It is why Sadio Mane, still a good player, was allowed to leave, as we had Diaz. It is why Firmino will be allowed to leave, as we have Gakpo. Things always change.
Mo is far from washed up, so I’m not ushering him out the door. If he stays, great!
All I am expressing is a comfort level with the possibility that if a suitable offer comes in, and he is open to it, I would be fine with that. The blend isn’t quite right at the moment, and I think the group of strikers might be helped with taking a step backwards, sans Mo Salah, before taking further steps forward as the new team that is evolving continues to emerge.
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That’s the key point, right there.
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The problem I have with a potential sale, is that I’m not sure of his current market value. 19 PL goals is nothing to dismiss, but if anyone has watched us this season, Salah has been pretty bad for most of it up until United. He will be judged on the entire season. I doubt we’d get £150m for him for instance.
On top of that, we’ve been through the shit of his early season form (and the tail end of last season), so I want to stick around for the good times again as well rather than selling off just when he’s ‘fixed’.
Keep him. There’s no such thing as a sure thing but even an ageing Salah is more of a sure thing than using him to pay for a midfielder in the hopes that our current forwards, plus the midfielder, can replace his output in goal and assist production.
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Love fans of this club.
Sell the only player who seems to be in form.
So we can have some money that we might spend on a player.
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To be fair to @RedOverTheWater he isn’t looking to sell. He is just comfortable with what we have should Mo move on.
Bit like the kid whose girlfriend is about to ditch him!
I see wherein that comfort lies, but my point is that its a season too early to contemplate Mo going.
And with a nod to @Zoran, I said revamp of forwards next season. Its too strong a word, but I suspect Mo would be off at that point.
Next season is massive. A changing of the guard in midfield is enough, keep the forwards we have…Bobby leaving is enough.
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Wouldn’t be surprised if Salah keeps going for another two seasons like he is.
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I wonder how well/comfortable any of the other forwards would be playing wide right.I think when he does go we’ll have to replace him with a new player,not 1 of the other senior players we currently have.
Ben. Doak.
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