Andoni Iraola is eager for Liverpool to sign “one more winger” to effectively replace Mo Salah, and believes they must have already “shown a good level.”
Liverpool were linked with a wide range of wingers heading into a summer in which they have long known they would see Salah depart.
Those include headline names Yan Diomande and Bradley Barcola along with many who are less established such as Brighton‘s Yankuba Minteh, Koln’s Said El Mala and Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo.
Bazoumana Toure was another candidate prior to his £43 million move to Newcastle, which came after Liverpool pipped them to Victor Munoz.
Speaking to Sky Sports on Monday, Iraola acknowledged the need for “one more winger” but emphasised that they must be of a requisite quality – to meet the standards he is now looking to attain at Anfield.
“I cannot talk about players from other teams,” he said when asked about links with Diomande and Barcola.
“It is clear we need a player there, I wouldn’t say to replace Mo Salah, but we need one more winger.
“There are other situations which are not so clear, we have very good players injured. Ekitike, Bradley and Giovanni, players we love.
3D2K26M Leipzig, Germany. 01st Nov, 2025. Soccer: Bundesliga, RB Leipzig - VfB Stuttgart, Matchday 9, Red Bull Arena. Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig) reacts after the 1:0. Credit: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa - IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL German Football League and the DFB German Football Association, it is prohibited to utilize or have utilized photographs taken in the stadium and/or of the match in the form of sequential images and/or video-like photo series./dpa/Alamy Live News
“We have to take decisions, sometimes it is hard. Sometimes there is a player we can sign to improve as a team, those decisions we are analysing.
“At other clubs, they present you with players you don’t know. With Liverpool, when they present them, you already know them.
“It is not easy, it has to be players who have shown a good level.”
Iraola’s comments speak to the considerable step up he has taken from Bournemouth to Liverpool this summer, which brings an increase in expectations not only on the head coach himself, but also the players he brings in.
KIRKBY, ENGLAND - Thursday, May 14, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Andoni Iraola poses for an official photocall ahead of his first press conference at the AXA Training Centre. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
While at Bournemouth and before that Rayo Vallecano, Iraola could allow his players, and particularly new signings, the space to breathe and make mistakes, the same cannot apply at Liverpool.
At a club challenging at the very top end of the Premier League and in the Champions League, players are expected to hit the ground running from the off.
That is the difficulty in identifying a successor to one of Liverpool’s best-ever players: not only will the next right winger be stepping into Salah’s spot, he will also be held to the standards he set.
Liverpool have less opportunity to gamble on potential in the likes of El Mala and Fernandez-Pardo, which explains their push to sign those from the bracket above.