21 Dec 2020 11:45:16
Question for Ed01 if you have the time!

With reports resurfacing of Salah being unhappy and wanting to move, who in your opinion would you want the club to get to replace him?

Do you think Jota can step up? Would you be happy if Harvey Elliott was reintegrated into the squad as rotation?

{Ed001's Note - I would be happy with Jota and Elliott to be given the chance to replace him if he went, yes.}

21 Dec 2020 11:56:39
Are these reports based on the absolutely nothing interview he did with AS? I don't see what interview changed or is there something new today?

There's obviously a case for breaking up some of the current team in the next 12 - 18 months because they're all closing in on 30, and it's likely Jota is part of a pre-planned refresh of our first choice forwards, but I still find it odd that some people have practically been packing Salah's bags for him since he arrived here.

21 Dec 2020 12:12:26
Seen the reports this morning about him being unhappy and now another media source (Middle Eastern media) are now reporting an interview with him and he’s saying he wants to break all the LFC records. He is going to struggle to do that if he’s not playing for us lol. Personally I think he could be interested in a move away but who could even afford to buy him.

21 Dec 2020 12:22:50
I don’t think jota or Elliot laces salahs boots Ed! U look at his numbers they are 2nd to none! If he’s unhappy etc move him on but he’d a hard player to replace! I don’t think he’s appreciated enough!

{Ed001's Note - I don't expect him to leave just yet.}

21 Dec 2020 12:42:34
He must be unhappy because he gets paid loads and wins everything possible with us!

21 Dec 2020 12:46:14
This all looks more like a nice to get an improved contract with us. If the club is looking to a major rebuild this summer, it's curtains for either Mane or Salah as they are probably our best chance at raising funds. One will get an improved 4 year contract while the other gets sold and replaced with a younger player.
Reading between the lines, Salah seems to want to stay rather than move on. But he also accepts that FSG and Klopp will have the final say on his future.
I just don't see any club having the funds to pay what we would want for Salah in the first place. Mane may not command as high a transfer fee and Zidane's a big fan so he might fancy a move to Madrid.
In an ideal world, I wish we never had to sell either player and give both long term contracts but it is what it is.
Regardless, I trust the concerned people to do what is right for LFc first and foremost.

21 Dec 2020 13:51:25
It was the interview with some so called Egyptian star player. Seems to me that the media will jump on anything to stir up issues within the club. First jose mind games and now this. Wonder what next.

21 Dec 2020 13:55:14
I think there are two ways to look at this. You either keep going with Salah, Mane and Firmino until their levels start to drop (and even if they drop a little, they're still better than most other options) and accept that you won't get huge transfer fees for them when they're older, but in return you get to keep their brilliance until they start to decline with age, which isn't likely to be any time soon. In parallel, you have to develop players such as Elliott, or other relatively inexpensive, low profile players and hope that one or two of them become good enough to take over from the current front three in three, four, five years time.

Or you sell Mane and/ or Salah sooner, whilst they are still at their peak value, and then use the money to try to find their replacements, which don't have to be huge £90m+ transfers. Remember Salah, Firmino and Mane themselves, whilst not cheap, were more like mid-tier transfers in terms of price.

Sounds daft to say it but it does sometimes seem like Salah is not fully appreciated. Maybe it's because we hear these rumours from time to time about how he wants to engineer a move to Barcelona or Real. Maybe it's because he can be a bit greedy or selfish with the ball (although his assists stats might suggest otherwise) . Maybe it's the strops we've seen when he's been substituted. Carragher always goes on about Salah's "numbers" and today I saw a stat that shows Salah now has the best return of goals/ assists per match since the Premier League began. If you consider some of the players who have played in the Premier League and the fact that Salah has now done this over a sustained period of time, it's phenomenal. He's also currently on track to be the top scorer in the league for the third time in four seasons. Players like this don't come along very often. I think we should already think of him as a one-off like Suarez, Torres, Gerrard, Rush, Dalglish, be thankful that we have him and have had him for four years, and hope that we still have him for at least another two or three years. When you have a player like this, it is very rarely as simple as just saying let's sell him and use the money to rebuild, because, regardless of how much money you have, it's very difficult to find a player who has so much impact.

21 Dec 2020 13:59:39
If Barcelona have the money, I can see Mane leaving this summer. They'll have a new president and if they want to make a statement, his signing will certainly be one. And it's not like it'd be a signing out of the blue either, considering that Barcelona have looked at him and a couple of others as Messi replacements, and Messi looks likely to finally leave.

21 Dec 2020 14:43:07
Think more chance of Salah going than Mane. If I remember correctly Mo was our 2nd or 3rd choice and everyone was moaning not getting first choice ( was it Pepe? ) But klopp has improved them both and I trust him to improve whoever comes into the side .

21 Dec 2020 14:47:45
We all know he’s agent has been trying he’s best to get him a move to Barcelona or RM but that was before C. V affected the hole world financially. Am guessing he would cost around the 80 mill mark but who has big money nowadays to buy him. Not many I’d say.

21 Dec 2020 15:14:13
For me, Salah is the best in the world right now. I doubt anyone in management at Liverpool want him to leave and Mane is just as valuable to our style of play. It may be impossible to tie them up long term and we have to understand the financial repercussions of having (few to) no fans in the stands means we may have to let one or both go eventually, but until somebody can hand us 100 million pounds or more a piece, they will be working their socks off for us. Enjoy it while it lasts and pray its a long time from now because we are living a dream we never would have expected 5, 10, 15 years ago.

21 Dec 2020 15:19:58
Of course it's a possibility that Salah moves next summer, but I still think it's much ado about nothing. A Spanish newspaper interviews him and then asks if he would like to join one of the two Spanish clubs. Journalist doing his job that's all. And Salah answering by basically saying " my options are open". Which they should be. And then a former Egyptian player reinforces he's "in the know" and jumps on the chance to remain relevant. Where's the fire in all this?
We're in the most enviable position in the league (the standings) in probably the most chaotic season ever. That speaks volumes about the solidity of the club Salah plays for. He's smart enough to know this. Aside from Bayern Munich, there's no other club, at present, that can offer the same combo of wages, history, titles, stability and just winning all the time. But yes, let him keep his options open.

21 Dec 2020 17:17:58
Keep Salah until there is literally no other choice, a phemonemon. His numbers even compared to Mane are on a different planet, for me. on ability alone i would let Manè go well before Salah. Someone above mentioned taking £80m for him, that person must be on some high quality narcotics😁.

{Ed001's Note - probably missed a nought off the end.}

21 Dec 2020 18:26:15
Mane or Salah are worth around £150/ 200 million. EACH!

21 Dec 2020 20:18:09
Nothing burger, IMO. No one can afford him under these conditions and I am sure he knows it. Call me back when a bid is made. Till then, this is all just a bunch of white noise that is getting way too much attention than it needs to.

22 Dec 2020 02:00:09
Swap deal Salah for Mbappe! 😄.

22 Dec 2020 19:52:03
Gordy.
For me (if funds can be found) Mbappe makes sense as a replacement.
His age and so for resale value make sense.
Like I said I fear we just can’t afford him.

23 Dec 2020 00:46:22
Took me long enough to do it - apologies - but thanks for the reply Ed01. If Jota can improve his consistency, and in a couple of years we can rotate with Harvey Elliott (as hopefully he will keep improving his all-round game too), then I think we will have it covered for now.

I think even if mane goes a year or so later, we can even shuffle the team around and play Curtis Jones in the front 3. (I think one poster said he had Bobby-like traits in his game. I actually think CJ has the footwork and brain which I would compare to an in-his-prime Coutinho. )