Steven Gerrard on Replacing Mohamed Salah at Liverpool

Steven Gerrard knows better than most what it means to lose a superstar at Anfield. He’s seen it, lived it, captained through it. So when he talks about the prospect of replacing Mohamed Salah, he doesn’t sugar-coat the scale of the task – but he doesn’t panic either.

Speaking on talkSPORT Breakfast, the former Liverpool captain laid out the reality in blunt terms. Trying to find a like-for-like successor to Salah? Almost impossible.

“I think the concern, if you’re trying to replace Salah, in terms of like-for-like, I think there are very few out there that you can go and grab,” Gerrard said. “Olise would be one, I would say, but I don’t think he’d be available.”

That last line matters. Because while Gerrard name-checked Michael Olise as the kind of profile Liverpool might covet, Bayern Munich have spent the past weeks slamming the door on any suggestion their winger could be prised away.

Gerrard backs Liverpool’s rebuild instincts

Gerrard’s message, though, was not one of doom. It was a reminder of Liverpool’s habit of reinventing their attack without simply cloning what they’ve lost.

He pointed back to Sadio Mané’s departure and the move for Luis Díaz. Different type of player, different angles of threat, same intention: keep the goals and chaos coming from the left. Before that, the club absorbed the exit of Luis Suárez by reshaping the frontline with a variety of options rather than hunting for a carbon copy.

“From experience, being around Liverpool as a player, and also since I’ve left, Liverpool’s recruitment team will have different options, and that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll look for a like-for-like,” Gerrard explained.

“Liverpool have got a fantastic record of replacing top players that have gone before, so I’ve got every confidence from a recruitment point of view that they’ll have different types of options, not necessarily a like-for-like, but one thing is for certain, they have to try and replace some kind of goal involvement in terms of goals and assists, which is extremely difficult, because they’ve been incredible for Liverpool for many years.”

That’s the heart of the problem. You don’t just replace Salah’s name on the teamsheet. You replace his numbers, his gravity, the way defenders tilt the pitch towards him. The club’s recruitment department has done it before. It will need to do it again.

Bayern shut the door on Olise talk

While Liverpool’s long-term attacking puzzle looms in the background, one name keeps drifting into the conversation: Michael Olise. The French-born winger has developed into one of the Bundesliga’s standout wide forwards, the kind of creative, goalscoring presence who naturally attracts the attention of elite clubs.

Speculation around a move to Anfield has grown loud enough that Bayern’s hierarchy felt compelled to answer it head-on. They didn’t just cool the rumours. They poured cold water on them.

Addressing the Liverpool links last month, honorary Bayern president Uli Hoeness was dismissive, and pointedly so.

“If that’s true… I don’t believe it is, but Liverpool spent 500 million euros this year and are having a very bad season,” he said. “So we won’t be contributing to them playing better next year.

“We play this game for our fans. We have 430,000 members, we have many millions of fans around the world, and it does them little good if we have 200 million euros in the bank and play worse football every Saturday because of it.”

It was a sharp reminder of Bayern’s stance: they are not a selling club for rivals looking to fix their own problems. Not at the cost of weakening their own squad.

Sporting director Max Eberl then tightened the message. Speaking to Sport Bild, he underlined the contractual reality around Olise.

“Michael has a contract with us until 2029, without a release clause - we’re relaxed,” he said.

No clause. Long deal. No urgency to cash in. Bayern are signalling that any chase for Olise will be a long, uphill run, not a quick raid.

Liverpool’s next move

So Liverpool stand at a familiar crossroads. A generational forward nearing the end of his cycle, a market short on genuine replacements, and the most obvious stylistic fit locked down by a club with no intention of selling.

Gerrard’s faith in Liverpool’s recruitment is rooted in history, not hope. The club has rebuilt before, often under pressure, often amid scepticism. The challenge this time is clear: find the next wave of goals and assists without the comfort of a like-for-like Salah successor.

If Olise is off the table and Bayern refuse to budge, the search will move elsewhere. The question is not whether Liverpool will adapt. It’s which new forward will be trusted to carry the weight of a legacy that has defined an era.