Glen Johnson believes that Liverpool should prioritise one particular criterion when it comes to sourcing a long-term successor to Mo Salah.
The Egyptian’s future has been a topic of much discussion over the past few months, following an unsuccessful £150m bid from Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad at the end of last summer’s transfer window, and as it stands his contract at Anfield will expire in June 2025.
Speaking to DAZN (via Liverpool World), the former Reds defender has recommended that LFC chiefs confine their search to forward who are proven performers in the English top flight.
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Johnson said: “I think it’s always a safer bet getting someone that has done it in the Premier League already. We know that the Premier League is the best league in the world by miles.
“To have a player that’s capable of making and scoring goals who’s proven is a lot safer. Grabbing someone from Italy, for example, they’re good players and they can score good goals – but the Premier League’s just so different. It’s a bit risky.”
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While we’ve seen plenty of forwards impress in other European divisions but subsequently struggle in the Premier League, we wouldn’t go along with Johnson’s recommendation to only look within the English top flight for Salah’s eventual replacement.
The irony of his comments about simply ‘grabbing someone from Italy’ is that Liverpool actually signed their legendary number 11 from AS Roma in 2017, off the back of two fine seasons in Serie A. Imagine if the Reds had struck the Italian top tier off their list of search parameters that summer and we’d never signed the Egyptian.
That isn’t to say there aren’t some viable, realistically attainable candidates within the Premier League – the previously linked Jarrod Bowen springs to mind – but nor should Michael Edwards and co adopt an excessively insular mindset to their transfer strategy.
The 44-year-old was an expert at overseeing some outstanding signings during his previous reign as LFC’s sporting director (indeed, Salah is a prime example), so we can assume that the qualities he seeks in a player as a possible acquisition for our squad are sound.
Liverpool fans won’t care where the Reds’ next great right winger is signed from, so long as they produce the goods on the pitch at Anfield.