Liverpool identify €40m ex Chelsea star as Mohamed Salah replacement: report

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool FC looks on during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and AFC Bournemouth at Anfield on September 21, 2024 in Liverpool, England.
Mohamed Salah in action for Liverpool (Image credit: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Liverpool’s contract situation regarding their trio of key first-teamers who are now into the final year of their current deals is perhaps the club’s biggest issue to solve,

Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are now all well into the last 12 months of their Anfield contracts and the club know that they either need to agree new deals with them or ensure they have replacements sorted.

Reds icon Salah has again been heavily linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League in recent weeks, with many believing that the 32-year-old would be able to land a huge deal in Saudi Arabia to become the new face of their league.

Liverpool consider ex-Chelsea star Christian Pulisic as Mohamed Salah replacement

Arne Slot manager / head coach of Liverpool reacts during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest FC at Anfield on September 14, 2024 in Liverpool, England.

Arne Slot looks like losing Salah (Image credit: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)

New Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes is said to have been working on a list of potential Salah replacements and according to Italian outlet Calciomercato, this search has thrown up the name of Christian Pulisic.

The USMNT winger left Chelsea for AC Milan in 2023 in a €22million deal and he has put his disappointing Stamford Bridge spell behind him, netting 19 times so far for the Serie A side, with Liverpool getting a first-hand look at his talents earlier this month, when he scored the Milan goal in their 3-1 defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League.

Chelsea and USMNT star Christian Pulisic

Chelsea and USMNT star Christian Pulisic

The 26-year-old’s improved form means that Liverpool would need to pay ‘more than double’ the fee that Milan paid for the American, putting any deal in the €45million range.

Pulisic is under contract at the San Siro until 2027, which gives the selling side the bargaining power, with the player himself said to be happy at the club. With the USA hosting the 2026 World Cup, the USMNT icon will want to make sure he is playing regular football before that tournament.

In FourFourTwo’s opinion, Liverpool will likely sound out a lot of players as they prepare for a potential Salah departure, so expect to see plenty more players linked.

After seeing him fail to hit the heights with Chelsea in the Premier League, including a 2022/23 campaign that saw him net once in 24 matches, Pulisic, who Transfermarkt value at €40million, may not be the most effective replacement for Salah.

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The football romantics, however, may point to the fact that Salah himself was a Chelsea flop who resurrected his career in Serie A before reaching new levels at Anfield.

Joe Mewis

For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team.