'I'll call you a liar!' - USMNT captain Christian Pulisic told he couldn't replace Mohamed Salah at Liverpool as Emile Heskey surprisingly highlights Brentford forward as the 'only one'

There have been suggestions that the United States international is registering on the recruitment radar at Anfield as Egyptian talisman Salah sees his contract run down. If he were to hit free agency in the summer of 2025, then a suitable replacement would be required to fill his role on the right wing.

Pulisic has been deployed in that position by Serie A giants Milan, with the American posting personal bests on the goal front during his time in Italy. He does boast experience of life in England from a Champions League-winning stint at Chelsea, but has been warned that succeeding Salah on Merseyside will be an almost impossible task for whoever takes it on.

Ex-Liverpool striker Emile Heskey – speaking in association with William Hill – told GOAL when asked if Pulisic would be a shrewd option for the Reds to explore: “A good option but not the same vein as Mo. Mo is obviously a winger that hugs the line and then starts drifting in. The numbers that Mo’s putting up, it’s very difficult to find someone who is going to match those numbers, regardless of what money you have in the bank and you can spend. Show me another player that’s matching those numbers and I’ll call you a liar!

“The only one in the Premier League could be [Bryan] Mbeumo from Brentford. I quite like him, but he’s not putting up the numbers that Mo is. The reality is that if you are going to go and spend money on a like-for-like, there really isn’t one there. Pulisic is close, but I think he’s probably more of a 10 – more drifting in midfield than hugging the line as a winger.”

Signing Pulisic would be worth more to Liverpool than mere on-field ability, with the brand of ‘Captain America’ holding appeal to club owners. Quizzed on whether those factors could influence transfer calls, Heskey added: “Yeah, I think so. If you are talking about the brand element of it then 100 per cent – you are talking about one of the major stars in America, scoring goals for the national team. If you are looking at that then, yes. To really expand on the American market, where your owners are from, 100 per cent.

“But if you are talking about like-for-like on the footballing side, he’s not quite that but would definitely be an asset. [Diogo] Jota has been injured a fair bit as well, so bringing someone in that can stay fit is important. He [Pulisic] wasn’t really that fit at Chelsea was he? He was injured quite a bit, so we don’t know what the issue was there. But he’s managed to keep himself very fit at AC Milan.”

Pulisic is tied to a contract at San Siro through to 2027, so would not come cheap if Liverpool were to sound him out. Long-term plans do, however, need to be drawn up on Merseyside as the subject of Salah’s future and what happens next cannot be ignored.