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Fan comes up with answer to the 'impossible job' of replacing Mohamed Salah
Home>Football>Football News>Liverpool
Updated 15:30 18 Jul 2023 GMT+1Published 15:26 18 Jul 2023 GMT+1

Fan comes up with answer to the 'impossible job' of replacing Mohamed Salah

Salah isn't leaving Liverpool just yet but eventually Jurgen Klopp will have to find an alternative to the Egyptian forward.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

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A Liverpool fan has gone through all the options and come up with the perfect answer to the 'impossible job' of replacing Mohamed Salah, but there's one huge problem.

It's a summer of change at Anfield as Jurgen Klopp attempts to turn things around after his worst campaign with Liverpool since his arrival.

Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have joined to reinvigorate a midfield which fell well short of their lofty expectations last season.

Klopp could still sign another midfielder if Jordan Henderson goes ahead with his decision to leave for Saudi Arabia, and the club can agree a fee with Al Ettifaq.

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The German has five players to pick from according to reports and he'll want to study the stats closely to make sure he picks the right signing.

And it'll be the same when the club one day have to replace Salah, who at 32-years-old will have just a year left on his contract this time next year.

One fan on Reddit believes that fact plus the emergence of Saudi Arabia's money in football will mean the forward departs Merseyside in a year's time.

Considering the Egyptian has scored 186 goals in the six seasons at Anfield there's no doubt he'll be tough to replace but the fan believes he may have come up with some answers.

First up he used Opta's stats to come up with the four players most similar to the former Roma man and Christopher Nkunku coming up on top, with a 84.4% similarity.

The Frenchman is followed in the similarity stakes by Donyell Malen, Rafael Leao and finally former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane.

Christopher Nkunku is similar to Salah. Image: Alamy
Christopher Nkunku is similar to Salah. Image: Alamy

However, as Reddit user quantIntraining points out, there's plenty of problems with the list of players similar to the current Liverpool star.

"Nkunku has just gone to Chelsea," he writes in his extremely thorough investigation, "Mane is a closed case in regards to Liverpool and Rafa Leao is actually a right footed RW which would require the entire attack to make wholesale changes."

Having signed a new contract at AC Milan recently, Leao could also cost more money than the Reds have generally been happy to spend.

With three of those four not likely it leaves only Borussia Dortmund player Malen, but the thread comes up with some more ideas, although some are understandably rejected out of hand.

The list of potential Salah replacements. Image: FBREF
The list of potential Salah replacements. Image: FBREF

Bayer Leverkusen's main man Moussa Diaby is singled out as being 'Mr Obvious,' with the French player's stats being compared to Salah when he was 24-years-old.

"In Salah’s final season at Roma before coming to Liverpool he was also 24 years old, in that season he got 15 goals and 11 assist in Serie A in 31 appearances," the investigation says.

"Last season in 33 appearances in the Bundesliga, Diaby got 9 goals and 8 assists, with these 9 goals were underperforming his xG of 11."

Malen's Dortmund teammate Karim Adeyami is also considered a good choice despite being only 21-years-old and playing just one year in the Bundesliga.

However it's concluded that Diaby is the best choice but there's one big problem, it looks like the 24-year-old is on his way to Aston Villa.

That could mean that Liverpool have already missed out on the man who could be their next Salah. Who else can fit the role instead?

Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: Football, Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Liverpool Transfer News & Rumours, Transfers, Fan Reactions, Premier League

Ryan Sidle
Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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@Sidler28

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