Liverpool keen on Pulisic to fill Salah-sized void

Liverpool know they will have to eventually replace Mohamed Salah, and the Merseyside club have identified Christian Pulisic as a possible target.

Concerns remain over the fact Mohamed Salah may well leave the club in 2025.

The 32-year-old star is in his final year under contract with the Merseyside team. As expected, the Reds pay Salah more money than any other player.

The Egyptian international rakes in an incredible $461,000 per week to play for the prestigious club.

Nevertheless, Salah is likely to receive offers, particularly from Saudi Arabia, that would see him receive a substantial pay-raise. Liverpool are not giving up on possibly re-signing the star just yet.

Salah, however, recently claimed that it was his last year at the club.

“I just want to enjoy it — I don’t want to think about it,” the Egyptian winger said earlier in the month.

New Liverpool manager Arne Slot then gave a coy response when asked about Salah, as well as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk on Friday. Like the winger, the two defenders are also out of contract with the club in June.

“I’m very happy that these players are in my team at the moment,” Slot stated. “There’s a lot of games this season and in the upcoming weeks, let’s see what happens in the future.”

Real Madrid star is reportedly Liverpool’s top summer target

With Salah’s situation very much up in the air, Liverpool is looking at potential replacements. Real Madrid attacker Rodrygo is perhaps the team’s top target to fill the void left by Salah.

After all, the Brazilian is widely seen as one of the best wingers in the world at the moment.

Rodryo’s future at Real was also seemingly in limbo after Kylian Mbappe joined the club this summer. Many assumed the Brazilian’s playing time would drastically decrease with the arrival of the Frenchman. This, however, has not yet been the case. Rodrygo has still featured in every LaLiga game so far this season.

American winger could be solid plan B for the Reds

Assuming Rodrygo remains in Spain, Liverpool would have to go to plan B. According to Calciomercato, this option could very well be Christian Pulisic. The USMNT star only just joined AC Milan in the summer of 2023 for about $22 million.

The cut-price fee was just a portion of what Chelsea paid Borussia Dortmund for the winger four years earlier.

Despite being a highly-rated prospect with the German giants, Pulisic’s time in England did not go as planned. In fact, the American scored just 26 goals and added 19 assists in 145 total matches with the Blues. He eventually fell out of favor at the West London club and moved on to Italy to help resurrect his career.

The decision to join Milan has undoubtedly paid off. Pulisic has arguably been the team’s top player since switching to Italy. The star winger has already collected 20 goals and 13 assists in just 57 total games in Milan.

After a solid first season with the club, Pulisic is on fire to start the current campaign. He has scored or assisted in six straight matches for Milan, including a Champions League goal against Liverpool.

Because of his relaunch in Italy, Liverpool would likely have to at least double the fee paid by Milan in 2023. This would seemingly not be an issue for the Reds.

Nevertheless, Pulisic’s previous Premier League record could be worrying for Liverpool’s brass. The winger racked up 20 goals and nine assists in 98 English top-flight appearances with Chelsea. He has already nearly matched this tally in Serie A with Milan in less than half the number of games.

Photo credit: IMAGO / AFLOSPORT