Mohamed Salah and Liverpool are done - now the Reds MUST secure Antoine Semenyo to replace 'the Egyptian King' in January

It is obviously important to stress that there is no like-for-like replacement for Salah. No other winger currently operating in Europe's 'Big Five' leagues comes close to matching his output over the past eight years. Last season alone, he was directly involved in 57 goals in all competitions - that's 18 more than Barcelona's teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, who finished second in the Ballon d'Or voting (Salah was fourth).

No matter how hard they look, then, Liverpool aren't going to find a right-sided attacker capable of rocking up at Anfield and immediately replicating Salah's sensational strike-rate. However, Liverpool have already made some highly significant moves towards reducing the team's dependence upon Salah to score goals, with more than £200 million spent on signing Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike during the summer.

The problem, of course, is that while Ekitike looks like a star in the making, Isak has been a massive disappointment, with the Swede having netted just twice so far while struggling horribly to get back up to full speed after his summer strike. Nonetheless, the major power-brokers at Anfield remain supremely confident that Isak will come good once he's 100 per cent fit and belatedly prove himself the kind of prolific No.9 that Liverpool have for so long lacked.

What the Reds most definitely do not possess right now, though, is a wide player blessed with the requisite pace and physicality to thrive in the Premier League - which is precisely why the mounting speculation linking Liverpool with a January move for Antoine Semenyo makes so much sense.

Despite Salah's sudden slump in form, Federico Chiesa has continued to struggle for game time under Slot. The Italian may have endured a succession of injury issues last season, but he has repeatedly made a big impact off the bench this term, so we can only conclude that Slot still doesn't trust Chiesa sufficiently to start him.

Jeremie Frimpong's inability to stay fit has also scuppered whatever chance there was of the versatile Dutchman proving himself a viable alternative to Salah on the right wing. Consequently, when Slot eventually decided to drop the misfiring 33-year-old, he deployed the multi-talented Dominik Szoboszlai on the right flank and moved Florian Wirtz back into his preferred No.10 position.

In fairness to Slot, results have improved without Salah (although that wouldn't have been hard!), with Liverpool picking up much-needed victories over West Ham and Inter either side of a couple of disappointing draws with Sunderland and Leeds United. However, stationing Szoboszlai on the right-hand side doesn't look any more like a long-term solution to Liverpool's problems than putting the Hungarian at right-back. Liverpool need a proper winger to play the role - and Semenyo fits the bill perfectly. 

Semenyo turns 26 in January and was playing Championship football for Bristol City as recently as two years ago - but he's improved exponentially since the appointment of Andoni Iraola as Bournemouth boss in the summer of 2023, with the London-born forward presently well on track to better last season's career-high Premier League haul of 11 goals.

"I think he's allowing me to be myself," Semenyo said of the Spaniard in an interview with the club's official website just last month. "I just need to play free-minded. We've made the game plan clear and what we need to do and, in that framework, he's allowed me to express myself and be creative. That's why my game is flourishing. Running is so important for him too, and it's all come together really well."

"Nothing really goes through my mind when I’m out there, I’m freestyling half the time! Most full-backs expect me to go down the line and cross it, but I like to improvise and mix things up."

Tellingly, Iraola has been reluctant to take all of the credit for Semenyo developing into one of the most feared forwards in the Premier League, with the 43-year-old regularly pointing out that the Ghana international is a pleasure to coach.

Semenyo suffered a succession of setbacks while trying to make it as a professional during his teenage years, but he now says that unsuccessful trials at the likes of Arsenal (the team he supports) actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the sense of rejection toughened him up and made him even more determined to succeed. We're talking about a player that ended up keeping a journal because he wanted to continually make notes of the areas in which he felt he could improve. 

The results of such self-criticism, attention to detail and perseverance are now there for all to see, as Semenyo, with his thrillingly direct style of play has become a problem for pretty much every Premier League opponent, including Liverpool. On the opening night of the current Premier League campaign, Semenyo temporarily hauled Bournemouth level at Anfield with two left-footed finishes in the space of 12 minutes - the second of which arrived after he'd carried the ball from the edge of one box to the other.

Of course, Liverpool struck twice in the dying minutes to nick a 4-2 win, with Salah scoring their final goal in injury time, but Semenyo's performance only further illustrated why so many were tipping him to eventually take over from his fellow African on the Reds' right wing. Back then, nobody would have predicted that the succession plan might be implemented as early as January - but there were calls for Liverpool to move for Semenyo even before Salah sparked a civil war at Anfield - and for quite a few reasons.

Liverpool's title defence has fallen apart from a variety of reasons - not least their inability to deal with set-pieces. It would certainly be a massive surprise if the failed summer move for Marc Guehi is not resurrected the moment the winter window opens on January 1, while the lack of cover at No.6 remains a major issue.

However, for all the money spent on revamping the forward line, Liverpool clearly need another attacking option out wide, as the decision to cash in on Luis Diaz has backfired badly, with Cody Gakpo's inconsistency becoming a major source of frustration among the fans whil the incredibly promising but still raw Rio Ngumoha is seeing even less game time than Chiesa.

Whether Salah stays or not, then, Liverpool should swoop for Semenyo, a robust forward capable of scoring off either foot who, like Diaz, can play all across the attack and shares a similar ability to drive defenders to distraction with his dribbling skills.

As former Reds left-back John Arne Riise said earlier this week, "Regardless of Salah’s future, he’s [Semenyo] absolutely a player we should be looking to sign in January if we can. He's a tricky guy to play against and he would suit Liverpool. Obviously, we like to play with wingers taking on players and beating them, but we are lacking that typical wide man at the moment."

Admittedly, Fenway Sports Group (FSG) may well be reluctant to sanction another expensive signing, given every summer acquisition bar Ekitike has yet to prove their worth, but picking up Semenyo for only £65m ($87m) is an opportunity too good to turn down - which is why Manchester City and Tottenham are also said to be willing to activate the buy-out clause in his Bournemouth contract.

Salah is going to leave Liverpool sooner or later, and while everyone connected with the club should be hoping it's the latter, signing Semenyo would unquestionably help soften the blow if it's imminent.