Liverpool's Transfer Strategy: Replacing Mohamed Salah

Liverpool’s transfer window was always going to be about one thing: replacing the one-v-one magic Mohamed Salah took with him when he walked away on a free. The hole on the right of their attack is as big as it sounds, and with the new season edging closer, it still isn’t filled.

Victor Muñoz has arrived from Osasuna after Liverpool triggered the Spain World Cup winner’s £34 million release clause, a smart early strike from new sporting director Richard Hughes. But that deal was only ever a starting point. The real surgery on the forward line is still to come.

Liverpool push for Barcola and Minteh

Liverpool are actively working on at least two more wide forwards. Bradley Barcola has been the top target since the club backed away from a move for Yan Diomande, and the interest has never really cooled.

The problem? Paris Saint-Germain’s price.

PSG have put a huge valuation on the 23-year-old, with talks understood to be starting at around £145 million before they will even consider letting him go. For a player Liverpool see as a potential long-term pillar of their attack, it’s a fee that would reshape the rest of their window.

So Liverpool have opened up another front.

This week, the reigning 2024/25 Premier League champions made their first moves for Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh. The 22-year-old Gambian, a left-footer with pace and directness, has already been the subject of two formal bids from Anfield – one worth £50 million, the second £60 million.

Brighton have held their line. The Seagulls are expected to demand around £70 million before they even think about selling, and they are in no rush to back down.

At those numbers, Liverpool will almost certainly need significant outgoings to push either winger deal over the line.

Gakpo emerges as the sacrifice

That brings the focus to Cody Gakpo, a name that refuses to leave the Tottenham rumour mill.

The Dutch forward, on £250,000 per week at Liverpool, is being lined up as a potential major sale, with a fee of around £72 million being discussed. At 27, Gakpo is entering what should be his peak years, and he has long been admired by Spurs head coach Roberto De Zerbi.

De Zerbi is driving a near-total rebuild of his frontline. Manchester City pair Savinho and Omar Marmoush are both set to feature for Spurs this season, and Gakpo is viewed as the final attacking piece for the Italian’s new-look system.

Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has now suggested that a deal taking Gakpo to north London could be close.

“Don’t forget Cody Gakpo, because Savinho is going to Tottenham in London for medical tests and contract signing,” Romano told his YouTube audience. “Omar Marmoush is expected to go to Tottenham as a centre striker, and he’s a target that is probably going to happen in the next days, as I told you.

“But I told you always: right winger, left winger, centre striker. This was what I told you about Tottenham. And for the left winger, the name remains Cody Gakpo.

“Tottenham are working on it. Tottenham are working on the player side. Player terms are not an issue. And then Tottenham remain absolutely on it on the club side with Liverpool.

“So, Gakpo to Tottenham could be over in the next days if the total deal can be agreed.”

If those terms are finalised, Liverpool will suddenly have a sizeable injection of cash to throw at Barcola, Minteh, or both.

From title winner to expendable

Gakpo arrived from PSV in January 2023 and quickly looked like a coup. He shone in Liverpool’s 2024/25 Premier League title-winning campaign, slotting into multiple roles across the front line and offering goals, link play and tactical flexibility.

Last season told a different story. Performances dipped, the goals dried up, and frustration grew among supporters, many of whom began to call for a more ruthless, specialist wide forward to take his place.

That shift in mood, combined with Liverpool’s aggressive pursuit of elite one-v-one wingers, has left Gakpo exposed. His starting berth on the left is under direct threat from Barcola if Liverpool can finally crack PSG’s resolve.

Andoni Iraola, now charged with reshaping the champions’ attack, already has Rio Ngumoha and Muñoz as options on the left. Add Barcola to that mix, and Gakpo’s path back into the side narrows even further.

If Tottenham get their man and Liverpool get their money, the Dutchman could become the high-profile casualty that funds the next evolution of an attack built to live without Salah.