Liverpool's £300m Rebuild: Finding Salah's Successor
Liverpool have already made their first move. The rest of the summer could define the next era at Anfield.
Jeremy Jacquet is on his way from Rennes in a £60million deal, a powerful young centre-back recruited to stiffen a defence that has conceded more than 50 Premier League goals this season. He is the first piece of a rebuild that has already cost over £446m since last summer and is now edging towards the £500m mark.
And yet, for all that outlay, Liverpool still look light in some of the most important areas on the pitch.
Defence reshaped, but not yet rebuilt
The back line is the obvious starting point. Jacquet arrives to compete in the heart of defence, potentially as the long-term partner or heir to Ibrahima Konaté. The Frenchman has yet to sign a new contract, a nagging concern at a time when stability is at a premium. Inside the club, there remains a quiet confidence that Liverpool’s No. 5 will eventually commit, rather than walk away for nothing.
If Konaté stays, the urgency for another big-money centre-back eases. Virgil van Dijk is expected to remain, while Giovanni Leoni should return from injury at some point in the summer, adding another option to the central defensive mix.
The full-back situation is more fragile. On the right, Conor Bradley is not expected to feature again until next year. That leaves the injury-hit pairing of Jeremie Frimpong and Joe Gomez as the primary alternatives. Both can do a job, both have fitness questions. Another specialist right-back would be more than a luxury; it would prevent Curtis Jones or Dominik Szoboszlai being dragged out of midfield to plug gaps.
On the left, the picture is changing. Andy Robertson needs a successor, but Liverpool may already have him in-house. Kostas Tsimikas is set to return and, combined with last summer’s signing of Milos Kerkez, could form a new rotation rather than forcing the club back into the market.
Midfield numbers strong, questions remain
In the centre of the pitch, the numbers look healthy. As long as there are no major departures and Jones and Szoboszlai are not moonlighting at right-back, Liverpool have enough bodies to get through a long season.
The debate is about quality, not quantity. This campaign has raised questions over several midfielders, not least Alexis Mac Allister, who has endured an uneven year. But with more urgent fires to fight elsewhere, a midfield overhaul is unlikely to top the agenda unless sales force the issue.
Life after Salah: no single saviour
The real storm is brewing out wide.
Mohamed Salah is set to leave, and you do not simply “replace” one of the greatest players in Liverpool’s history. Rio Ngumoha has flashed talent, but the idea of a teenager stepping straight into Salah’s role belongs in fantasy, not recruitment meetings.
The responsibility will have to be shared. Spread across several signings, spread across the front line. No single arrival will carry the scoring load, the creative spark, the sheer inevitability that Salah has brought for years.
Liverpool know that market well. They have shopped at RB Leipzig before, and a return trip this summer would make sense. Two names stand out: Antonio Nusa and Yan Diomande. Between them, they could cost around £150m, with most of that fee going on the Ivory Coast international.
They bring potential, pace, and versatility. What they do not bring is Salah’s experience or guarantee of goals. Expecting a 21-year-old and a 19-year-old to fill that void on their own would be reckless.
Barcola the final piece?
That is where Bradley Barcola enters the conversation.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward already has a Champions League title to his name and could yet win another before May is out. He offers something different: a more established profile, a player who has already operated at the highest level and shown he can handle the pressure.
Barcola can play wide, but also step inside and operate centrally, much like Nusa. That flexibility would be invaluable next season, especially with Hugo Ekitike sidelined until at least autumn and the burden on Alexander Isak needing to be managed carefully.
His price would not be cheap. Barcola is expected to cost around £70m, taking Liverpool’s projected outlay to roughly £300m when Jacquet’s fee is included. But that trio – Nusa, Diomande, Barcola – would go a long way towards rebuilding an attack stripped of its talisman.
It would not be a like-for-like swap. It would be a reimagining.
Liverpool have already committed vast sums to reshape this squad. This summer, with Salah and Robertson moving on and key contracts still unresolved, the margin for error shrinks again. The money is one thing.
The real question is whether this next wave of signings can carry the weight of a club that has forgotten how to settle for anything less than contention.
