I would. Although one more season from Mo would give Doak a chance to be blooded.
1 Like
Abso-fucking-lutely. Especially if it will mean we won’t be hamstrung in summer '24 to add another few refreshments
Depends for what type of money and who are we getting in. I’d certainly be open to hear what kind of offer it is, it’s just natural at this stage of Salah’s career. But I actually might be closer to saying no. The 3 I’ve mentioned is not what I’d go for. And if we sell Salah, we have to bring someone who plays right side of attack. Maybe we’d have an idea with some of the current players, but I don’t see who can regularly play off the right. And he’s still our main goalscorer. Maybe best to go another year with him and by the summer of 2024, we’ll have a much clearer picture who has developed of the other lot up top. What’s up with Nunez, Gakpo and the rest.
1 Like
Yes, I would take that.
Nunez, Gakpo, Diaz, Jota as the four main forwards; supplemented by attacking midfielders Mount, Elliott and Carvalho; with Bellingham and Caicedo doing a bit of everything and making sure no one overruns us any more. Doak to come into the picture as he develops, maybe Gordon too if he can find his way back after injury.
A CB, hopefully a good one to challenge right now, and in time usurp VVD, then yes, bring it on.
I would take that, even if it meant Mo Salah left. Now ideally I would want Mo for another season, but that wasn’t the deal!
Who would you play on the right instead of Mo then?
I hear you! That’s the obvious weak spot with taking the deal. Overall we definitely improve, but we are weaker on the right if Mo is gone.
There are a few permutations and we would have to see what emerges.
We might do 4-2-3-1 and play a front four of:
Nunez
Diaz Gakpo Mount
With Jota able to rotate in to several positions.
We might continue with 4-3-3 and play a front six of:
Nunez Gakpo Diaz
Caicedo Bellingham Mount
At that point I appreciate we don’t know a lot about Diaz on the right, but we do know he has pace to burn and can beat a man.
Arguably Elliott kicks on and plays on the right, with Nunez in the middle, Diaz on the left, and Gakpo and Jota rotating in.
And Ben Doak, who isn’t ready yet, will hopefully start coming into the picture as we go.
Finally, if it turned out that we improved overall with making the moves, but after a season we still weren’t good enough on the right, and didn’t have someone coming through to take it, then fine, go to the market and buy someone like Moussa Diaby in summer 2024.
Still, I would do the deal, even if it meant Mo departed, as overall we would be quite a bit stronger.
2 Likes
How much would we realistically get for Salah though? We’d also have to replace him. Surely if we sold some squad players like Matip, Phillips, Williams, Kelleher, Morton, Carvalho and Jones we would get close to the fee he would command.
2 Likes
It’s possibly relevant that it’s looking increasingly likely that Messi will be off in the summer. They could pick up Mo and save money. Im not particularly concerned about needing someone to play on the right if we lose him, but more that losing him and Bobby in the same summer would potentially leave us a little light given the fitness issues of Jota and to a lesser extend Nunez (more teething problems) and Diaz (hopefully a one off).
But, on balance I think you can make a really strong argument the net benefit of it. But I say that as someone with a clear bias against star enabling. I tend to think the gap between the stars and the next level of players is far smaller than is often portrayed if you can get that other player in the right circumstances.
2 Likes
I don’t think we’d get anything close to what Salah would sell for. Also we literally signed Carvalho a year ago, he’s 20 years old. Are we really giving up this quickly?
I’d sell Salah.
3 Likes
The obvious choice is Elliot, and I get he is nowhere near Mo’s output currently but the point is by Elliot going there you are moving to a 4231 and your goals are now expected from a proper no.9… Step forward Nunez.
Ignoring improving the defense for now, you’d have something like this…
Alisson
Trent - Konate - Van Dijk - Robertson
Bellingham/Henderson - Caicedo/Thiago/Bajcetic
Elliot/Doak - Gakpo/Mac Allister/Carvalho - Diaz/Jones
Nunez/Jota
The forwards we have now are more suited to a 4231 it’s the midfield which isn’t, come the summer that could very quickly change.
There has to be some sort of madness to the method of continually buying no.10s and a traditional no.9
We would have to buy a player if Salah was sold. The forward line already looks a bit short on quality in wide areas, we could do with another pacy player out there as is.
1 Like
Bobby won’t be replaced (or has already been with Gakpo) and Salah won’t leave after recently signed a new contract.
One of the reasons I would be happy of Mount comes in because he’s versatile enough to cover some positions in attack.
I’m not giving up on Carvalho. I’d love him to turn it around but something seems to be going on for him to never get picked and hardly make the bench.
He’s a 20 year old with only one season of senior football under his belt, in the championship, playing on a team has a load of troubles already. It really doesnt need additional explanations for his lack of involvement
2 Likes
Diaz
Kieran Tierney could be available in the summer
would love to see him here,
C’mon Klopp, get him in before Ancelotti makes his move
1 Like
Another sick note. 
29 appearances this season…