Liverpool is linked with a move for a Juventus winger that Jürgen Klopp likes so much he's reportedly looking to 'replace' Mohamed Salah with, but the truth is clear.
It’s been an odd year for Mohamed Salah at Liverpool. This time a year ago, the Egyptian was viewed as one of the best players in the world, performing at the peak of his powers, and in the last four months of 2021 he was operating at his highest-ever level.
Then he went off to represent his country at AFCON, reached the final, but lost to Sadio Mané’s Senegal on penalties. And since then, it’s difficult to argue that he’s been at the same level as he was before he left.
He’s scored seven goals in the Premier League this season, at the same stage last season he had 16. It’s evident that Salah is struggling, but this can also apply to the entire Liverpool team, where the hangover of going so close to winning everything last season has played a major past in this campaign. And in this respect, Salah is no different.
But there’s one thing between Salah going through some middling form and being sold, which is what has been reported by Italian outlet Calciomercatoweb in recent days.
The claim is that Jürgen Klopp is 'convinced' he should cash in on Salah and move the 30-year-old on, and replace him with Juventus winger Federico Chiesa, who is making his way back to full fitness after nearly a year on the side lines after suffering an ACL injury.
Before his injury, Chiesa had been seen as one of the most promising wingers in the European game, he’d starred for Italy at Euro 2020 and had emerged as one of Juve’s best players in 2020-21. His knee injury against Roma in January 2022 essentially ruled him out for the majority of the year.
However, with Juventus in dire legal straits due to the on going financial investigations into financial irregularities and the 15 deducted points which could see them lose out on Champions League money, the Turin giants may have to sell some players to balance the books, ironically.
And Liverpool could exploit this to add Chiesa to the squad, but not as a replacement for Salah, but rather to complement the Egyptian. Chiesa remains a top operator, is not 26 until October, can play in all of the forward positions, and has scored or assisted roughly every other game since joining the Turin side from Fiorentina.
Yet even with the club on their proverbial knees, Juve will likely want to build the future of the club around Chiesa, and so Liverpool will find it difficult to prise him away. If they were to manage to do so, it wouldn't be as a replacement for Salah, but as an addition.
Author: Emmet Gates
Source: https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/features/liverpool-transfer…
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