Liverpool may look to sign a successor to Mohamed Salah this summer.placeholder image
Liverpool may look to sign a successor to Mohamed Salah this summer. | AFP via Getty Images
Liverpool may be able to secure a genius free transfer signing at the end of the season.
These are certainly times of transition at Liverpool, and that is only set to continue into 2026 as the futures of the only surviving members of the Reds’ Champions League-winning squad under Jürgen Klopp come into question.
Of the five surviving members of the squad which was crowned champions of Europe in 2019, long-term replacements for Alisson and Virgil van Dijk have already been sought out, while the immediate futures of Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson have already come into question, with that of Joe Gomez likely to follow suit with his current deal up in 2027.
This is no longer Klopp’s team, and Arne Slot will have his work cut out to ensure that some of Liverpool's greatest players of the modern era are replaced adequately. Of the five mentioned, Salah remains the only one who has not seen an eventual successor arrive yet in any capacity – and replacing the Egyptian will be the most difficult task of all facing Slot.
Liverpool’s ideal Salah replacement may be available for nothing this summer
Salah will have just a year left on his deal this summer and following the controversy between the 33-year-old and Liverpool which struck headlines before Christmas, there is a growing sense that player and club might ultimately say a heartfelt goodbye at the end of the season – hopefully in better circumstances.
The reality is that replacing Salah with one player will be near impossible, so Slot may opt to do this in multiple ways. Firstly, by changing formation to use two up front in certain games when Alexander Isak returns from injury to partner Hugo Ekitiké, while adding a new signing who operates off the right and is capable of taking up some of the goalscoring burden left by Salah. The perfect player for this role looks set to be available next summer, in the shape of Fulham star Harry Wilson.
Wilson will be 29 by next summer and is in the prime of his career, enjoying his best season to date with eight Premier League goals and four assists to almost single-handedly drag Fulham up the table and towards European contention. His contract is up at the end of the season and speculation over where he will end up next has inevitably arisen already.
There is every chance that the Welshman would improve yet further when surrounded by better players, and he may relish the opportunity to play a role in trophy success at Anfield – particularly considering this would be an emotional return to the club he first signed for as an eight-year-old.
Wilson could complete Anfield return and become a Reds hero
Wilson was on the books at Liverpool for 17 years after coming through the academy, and was earmarked for some time as one of the club’s brightest talents. He was never quite given an opportunity in the first team, however, making just two appearances for the club despite strong loan spells with the likes of Hull City, Derby County and Bournemouth.
In 2021, he signed for Fulham on an initial loan deal which was made permanent for £12m the next summer. With his contract at Craven Cottage now close to running down and negotiations over a new deal stalling, a return to Anfield could be the perfect move for Wilson and see him realise the dreams he had as a kid coming through the academy.
A gifted technician with the ability to score goals from range and whip in pin-point deliveries, Wilson’s style of play is closer to that of Dominik Szoboszlai than to Salah, but that might be exactly what Liverpool need. Arriving as a player capable of operating slightly deeper from the right than Salah, to complement the likes of Ekitiké, Isak and Florian Wirtz, Wilson may begin as a rotation option but will feel he can do enough to force his way into the Reds’ starting XI.
With his ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck and deliver decisive moments of quality, Wilson will likely have his choice of clubs this summer as he looks to take his career to new heights. Where better to do this than at the very place he used to call home?
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