Ranking Mohamed Salah's possible replacements at Liverpool: From Kylian Mbappe to Bukayo Saka

After nearly going bankrupt because of the recklessness of the Josep Maria Bartomeu era, Barcelona have been trying to practise prudence in the transfer market in recent windows - so quite why they felt compelled to pay £50m ($63m) for Raphinha is anyone's guess. The Brazil international is just not an elite-level winger, as his Catalan employers have quickly realised. Raphinha was repeatedly linked with a move away from Camp Nou during the summer.

There is still a decent Premier League player in there, though. Raphinha impressed during his second season at Leeds, in 2021-22, and given Barca could soon make him available for a knockdown fee, Liverpool might well resurrect their interest in a player they were linked with a year ago.

He's obviously not Salah but taking a risk on Raphinha would enable Klopp to use the leftover money to strengthen elsewhere.

Brentford were willing to pay a club-record £34m ($44m) for the 20-year-old during the summer transfer window but Bakayoko preferred to stay at PSV, who were holding out for €45m (£38.6m/$48m) anyway. It only feels like a matter of time before he ends up leaving Eindhoven, though, with many tipping Bakayoko to shine in this season's Champions League after playing a key role in his side getting through the qualifying rounds with four assists in four games.

Hardly surprising, then, that there are already rumours that Liverpool are lining up the Belgium international to replace Salah next summer. Very much an exciting and explosive young talent to keep an eye on in the coming weeks and months...

Talk of the West Ham winger moving to Merseyside went very quiet last season, as Bowen struggled to replicate his 2021-22 form. However, the crowd favourite finished with a flourish, scoring the winning goal in the Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina, and has hit the ground running this term.

Would Bowen's arrival set pulses racing at Liverpool? Absolutely not, and there's also the fact that West Ham would doubtless charge a pretty penny for such a popular player. Still, the 26-year-old has plenty of admirers at Anfield, Klopp included, and would prove far more attainable than some of the other names on this list.

One of the breakout stars of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign, the Frenchman found himself at the centre of incessant transfer speculation during the summer because of the £35m ($42m) release clause in his Crystal Palace contract. Manchester City were heavily linked as they looked to find a replacement for Riyad Mahrez, while Olise looked certain to rejoin Chelsea just before the close of the window.

In the end, the 21-year-old ended up signing a new, four-year contract at Selhurst Park. Therefore, it would take quite a big bid for Crystal Palace to even entertain the idea of letting Olise leave next summer, while it's also worth bearing in mind that he remains a very raw talent that really needs to work on his finishing.

Nonetheless, Olise - who last season became the youngest player to record a hat-trick of assists from open play in the same Premier League game - is improving at a rapid rate and would represent a very exciting addition to Liverpool's already fantastic forward line.

Plenty of eyebrows were raised when Aston Villa paid just over £50m ($63m) for the France international this summer but he might just prove a bargain buy. Diaby, who scored 14 goals and created another 10 for Bayer Leverkusen last season, has made a promising start to his Premier League career, impressing all and sundry with his pace and penetration down the right flank.

The 24-year-old obviously still has a long way to go to prove himself a truly world-class player but one can be sure that this is a winger that Liverpool, and many other elite European sides, will be watching closely over the next nine months.

On the face of it, Real Madrid agreeing to let Rodrygo leave appears unlikely. He is, after all, one of their most prized possessions, a versatile 22-year-old attacker that is getting better all the time and developing a useful habit for scoring in big games.

However, if Madrid were to sign Kylian Mbappe next summer (which, let's face it, remains a distinct possibility given the Frenchman's fickle nature), Rodrygo might be sold for two reasons. Firstly, Mbappe's best position is on the right flank. Secondly, Madrid might well need to raise money in order to pay for the World Cup winner's arrival - so why not sacrifice the man whose starting spot Mbappe would be taking?

In such a scenario, Liverpool would doubtless be among the clubs most interested in signing Rodrygo, who was directly involved in 29 goals last season.

Liverpool know all about how dangerous Leroy Sane can be. The former Manchester City winger scored four times against the Reds, whom he consigned to their only defeat during the 2018-19 Premier League campaign. Of course, Sane was ultimately deemed surplus to requirements by Pep Guardiola, primarily because of his inability to extract the very most out of his considerable talent on a consistent basis.

It's been something of a similar story for Sane at Bayern Munich. He's played well at times but not yet come close to realising his potential. Could Klopp be the man to get the best out of Sane? You wouldn't bet against it - and you certainly wouldn't bet against Liverpool going in for the 27-year-old if Salah were to leave next summer.

While discussing Al-Ittihad's bid for Salah on Sky Sports last week, Paul Merson said if he were in Liverpool's position he'd be thinking, "Right, [Salah] is 31 and I can get £200m for him, so who is going to be the next big thing on the right wing? The next one in line is definitely Saka, he’s the best right winger about after Salah. If you were Liverpool you’d be trading in someone who’s a bit older for someone who’s younger."

While the former Arsenal man is renowned for his outlandish statements, in fairness to him, he's not wrong in this instance: Saka really would be the perfect Premier League replacement for Salah.

However, it's just so difficult to imagine the Gunners accepting any offer from a top-four rival for their most prized possession. It would require a huge change in fortunes for both clubs, and an even more unlikely change of heart from Saka, who would very clearly prefer to win trophies at Arsenal than anywhere else.

The dream signing in the eyes of many Liverpool fans, which is understandable. Mbappe may not be the most reliable character in the world - but he is the greatest attacking talent on the planet. His performances at Qatar 2022 were outstanding - only bettered by Lionel Messi - and having been reintegrated into the Paris Saint-Germain squad after once again publicly flirting with a move to Real Madrid, he is once again firing on all cylinders.

Mbappe has also previously expressed some interest in moving to Anfield, admitting that he is a big fan of the "machine" that Klopp has constructed at Liverpool. Despite the constant speculation, it was never seriously thought that Liverpool could afford to sign the French forward, given the likely size of any transfer fee, as well as his gargantuan wage demands.

However, selling Salah to Saudi Arabia might actually make this transfer economically possible at the very least. It still seems like a long shot, of course. If Mbappe ever leaves Paris, it will likely be for Madrid. But it costs nothing to dream, eh?