Five possible alternatives for Salah at Liverpool The African Cup of Nations (Afcon) is fast approaching, set to commence before January seventh.

Liverpool may be considering five potential replacements for Salah, as the Saudi player is on his way and Salah himself is not getting any younger.Five potential replacements for Salah at Liverpool

The Afcon are coming and he’s not getting any younger

#1 Takefusa Kubo, 22-years-old, Real Sociedad and Japan

The first player on our shortlist is the 22-year-old Japanese international Takefusa Kubo of Real Sociedad. Despite being only 22 we have already seen Kubo have something of a nomadic career having already played at both Barcelona and Real Madrid as a youth player along with loan moves to Mallorca, Villarreal and Getafe before he moved to Real Sociedad last summer.

Kubo has quickly established himself as a key attacking player in the Basque country for a team who are playing Champions League football this season. The Japanese international displays a lot of similarities to Salah. Kubo is also naturally left-footed and he is at his best when receiving in the half-spaces and looking to drive into the opposition area.

The Smarterscout profile for Kubo above is from the 22/23 season and when we look at his style ratings chart in the centre we can see the areas in which he is similar to Salah. Kubo scores highly for both shooting and dribbling although perhaps he does not receive in the opposition area often enough. It is also interesting that he scores well in some defensive metrics with strong outputs for disrupting opposition moves and for recoveries on the ground. In this sense, Kubo would be an interesting fit for Liverpool’s defensive style of play and intense pressing.

While Kubo has only just moved permanently from Real Madrid to Real Sociedad it is likely that a move to Liverpool would be very difficult for the Japanese international attacker to turn down.

#2 Viktor Tsygankov, 25-years-old, Girona and Ukraine

Next up we will look at the 25-year-old Ukrainian international winger Viktor Tsygankov. Despite already being 25-years-old this is the first season that Tsygankov has spent outside of Ukraine having spent all of his career prior to this season at Dynamo Kiev. When Tsygankov moved to Spain to join Girona it felt like a coup for the club and so far this season he has shone in the attacking phase of their game. Tsygankov is another naturally left-footed attacking player who likes to play from the right side. While at the moment his shooting and dribbling output, as shown on the smarterscout profile above, are relatively low this has to be viewed through the context of Girona as one of the smaller sides in La Liga. We also see that Tsygankov scores highly in terms of receiving in the opposition area. Interestingly, once again we see a high output for recoveries on the ground and when you look at his duel ratings you can see how active Tsygankov is in terms of duels both in the air and on the ground. With the way that the Ukrainian international has started his career in La Liga, it is likely that he will be a sought-after signing at the end of the current season. As with Kubo above it is unlikely that either Girona or the player himself would turn down Liverpool if they identified him as a suitable replacement for Salah.

#3 Domenico Berardi, 29-years-old, Sassuolo and Italy

Next up we have the oldest player on our shortlist in the 29-year-old Italian international Domenico Berardi of Sassuolo. Berardi was a product of the youth system at his current club although he also had a spell in the youth teams of Juventus. He made the permanent move back to Sassuolo in 2015 and he has been key to their rise to be genuine European challengers in Serie A.

Berardi is once again a naturally left-footed player who plays from the right of the attack for club and country. While he is not that much younger than Salah at the moment his profile is one that would likely be of interest to Liverpool when it comes time to replace Salah in the first-team squad.

As you can see from his smarterscout profile above Berardi is not necessarily a ball carrier and he scores lowly when it comes to dribbles but he is very direct in terms of his attacking intent and he scores very highly when it comes to shots with a high output. He profiles as a player who typically receives outside the area and then will look to move the ball into dangerous areas although he has above average scores for receiving in the opposition area. Once again he also impresses in the defensive phase with good outputs for disrupting opposition build-up and recoveries on the ground.

Domenico Berardi has made no secret of the fact that he wants to leave Sassuolo and it is likely that in terms of his price, he would be available at a relatively affordable price.

#4 Ludovic Blas, 25-years-old, Rennes and France

The next player that we have on our shortlist is the 25-year-old French attacker Ludovic Blas of Rennes. Blas has only moved to Rennes this summer having initially played for the youth teams, and then the first team, of Guingamp. Blas moved in 2019 to join Nantes, still in Ligue 1, and he became the attacking talisman for his team in much the same way that Salah has been for Liverpool.

Blas is, again, similar to Salah in that he is a left-footed player who likes to play from the right, and once again Blas likes to play from the half-spaces with an emphasis on pushing towards the final third.

His Smarterscout profile for this season shows a player who excels when it comes to shooting with an extremely high score in this metric and once again he scores well in the defensive metrics and especially when it comes to recoveries on the ground which suggests he would fit the way that the Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp likes to press. As the season progresses I would expect to see his output for receiving in the box rise to the point that he would become a realistic replacement for Salah.

#5 Johan Bakayoko, 20-years-old, PSV and Belgium

The final player on our list is also the youngest in the 20-year-old Belgian international Johan Bakayoko of PSV Eindhoven. Bakayoko had something of a nomadic youth career as he spent time at Club Brugge and Anderlecht amongst others before he moved to the Netherlands to join PSV. Last season saw Bakayoko make his breakthrough at first-team level and he has quickly established himself as an important part of their attack.

As with the other players on our list and as with Salah himself Bakayoko is a naturally left-footed player who likes to play from the right. He is a quick and powerful ball carrier who has more than a passing resemblance to Salah when he is on the pitch.

As you can see from his Smarterscout profile Bakayoko is a well-rounded attacking player with strong outputs in terms of dribbling and shooting although arguably we would like to see him do more in terms of receiving the ball in the area. Once again, however, Bakayoko also has strong outputs for disrupting the opposition build-up and recovering the ball in ground duels. Bakayoko has already been linked to a move to England so if Liverpool are in the market for a right-sided attacker next season we can expect to see Bakayoko linked strongly.

Conclusion

From a recruitment perspective being able to use the suite of tools that are available on the Smarterscout website can simplify the process substantially. Being able to drill down into the details to find the correct profile of player for your needs can allow you to surface players that may not have appeared in your search previously.