Perfect Mohamed Salah replacement named by Premier League icon but Arne Slot warned it may be 'impossible' for any player to replicate Liverpool star's 'insane' numbers
Former Chelsea and Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips believes Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma would be a great player to succeed Salah at Liverpool if he departs Anfield this summer. However, the ex-England international, who also felt Athletic Club's Nico Williams would be a good shout, added it is an "impossible" task for anyone to replicate the Egyptian's goalscoring numbers at the Merseyside outfit.
Advertisement
Getty Images Sport
WHAT SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS SAID
He told BetVictor: "If Mohamed Salah does leave Liverpool this season then I’m not sure there’s anyone in the world at the moment who could replace him like-for-like and put up the same numbers he does season after season. However, I do think there are wingers out there that could replace him in a different way, putting up more numbers in terms of creating chances and bringing other players into play, as well as chipping in with goals. Kaoru Mitoma is the one I’d pick to replace him. He’d probably be my first choice – I’m really surprised that no European clubs have come in for him. The other is Nico Williams. He’s a good winger and we saw exactly what he can do at the Euros. I can imagine Arne Slot would get a tune out of those two. That said, to put up the same numbers as Salah has in his time at Liverpool will be nearly impossible because his numbers are insane!"
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Salah's into the last few months of his Liverpool contract and is yet to sign an extension. The 32-year-old has scored 240 goals in 386 Reds games, with the Egyptian scoring more than 20 goals in all eight of his seasons at Anfield. If he does leave, replacing him will be a very tough task.
ENJOYED THIS STORY?
Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting