Jermaine Pennant has urged Liverpool to sign one player ‘at all costs’ in the summer as the long-term replacement for Mo Salah.
The Egyptian is about to leave Anfield after nine glorious years on Merseyside, and the task of replacing the club’s third-highest goalscorer of all time will be an exceptionally difficult one.
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Numerous right-sided wingers have already been cited as prospective transfer targets, and among the most prominent is Michael Olise, with some reports from Germany even claiming that the Reds are prepared to spend upwards of £170m on the 24-year-old.
The French forward netted his 20th goal of the season on Tuesday night in Bayern Munich’s 5-4 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in an all-time Champions League classic.
Taking to X just after Olise’s magnificent solo goal to make it 2-2 in the 41st minute, Pennant exclaimed: ‘Liverpool go out and get Olise right now, at all costs. There is your replacement for Mo Salah. AT ALL COSTS. Any amount plus Gakpo.’
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Although we wouldn’t agree with the unnecessary swipe at Cody Gakpo, we very much share the ex-LFC winger’s obvious enthusiasm for the Bayern star, who’s exactly the elite wide player that the Reds should be striving to sign as Salah’s replacement.
In addition to his impressive goal tally this season, the Frenchman has also racked up 29 assists, the sort of output which – if replicated at Anfield – would surely transform Arne Slot’s side into genuine Premier League contenders once more.
Unfortunately, even if Liverpool were to summon a club-record offer surpassing the £125m spent on Alexander Isak last year, persuading the Bundesliga champions to part with Olise would be near-impossible, with supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummengge proclaiming: ‘There’s no price tag that would make us flinch’.
Also, Richard Hughes would almost certainly find it challenging to entice the 24-year-old to Merseyside, given that he’s currently excelling in a team which wins its domestic league and goes deep into the Champions League on an annual basis.
Realistically it’s very hard to envisage Bayern’s number 17 rocking up at Anfield this summer as Salah’s replacement, but we’d definitely love to see LFC heeding Pennant’s pleas and making an ambitious effort to try and get him.