Liverpool's Champions League exit makes a firm comment on the importance of the summer ahead.
Ultimately, Paris Saint-Germain were better than Arne Slot's side, deserving winners over the course of the two legs. But some fans will no doubt feel aggrieved by rather uninspiring attacking play. Effort and ability abounded in red in the home fixture, but a 1-0 defeat led to an agonising exit in the shootout, Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones missing.
Nunez-Quansah-Endo-Curtis-Jones
To follow a hackneyed saying: penalties are a lottery. However, there was something emblematic about Nunez's strike, not poor, per se, but confidently saved by Gigi Donnarumma to raise an already confident French side and see them finish the job.
This time next week, Liverpool may have retained their Carabao Cup throne, sitting as runaway Premier League leaders besides. But the pain was clear after losing their place among Europe's elite until we go again, as football invariably does, next season.
Mohamed Salah is known to wear his heart on his Red sleeve, and indeed he cut a disconsolate figure as the Parisens rejoiced under the Anfield lights. Perhaps it's futile to read into it, but you can't help but wonder if this was his final foray on the European stage for the Merseysiders.
Mohamed Salah's Liverpool future
Out of contract at the end of the season, 32-year-old Salah is approaching the final phase of his prime. He joined Liverpool from AS Roma in 2017 and has since lifted almost every major honour, leading the charge toward his and Anfield's second Premier League title in its contemporary branding.
Mohamed Salah for Liverpool-1
With 243 goals and 110 assists across 393 appearances, there's no question Salah's one of the finest forwards of his generation, and FSG are intent on tying him down for the next few years, within reason, of course.
Therein lies the problem. Salah is already Liverpool's highest-paid player in history on £350k per week, and while he's a supreme athlete and matchless goalscorer from the right flank, there's no certainty that he will still be firing at full throttle for the next two seasons.
Mohamed Salah vs PSG (24/25)
Match Stats
Minutes played
Goals
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Stats via Sofascore
He will be dismayed that he couldn't do more in the last 16 of the Champions League, hungering for a second bite at the incomparable cherry, but Salah is about to dethrone four-in-a-row Premier League champions Manchester City, posting 32 goals and 22 assists across all competitions.
To replace him would take something special, someone proven to have enough to breach Slot's backline. So then, who do the Reds have in mind?
Liverpool chasing one of the best forwards in Europe
Not the most popular name on Liverpool territory right now, but Ousmane Dembele, 27, has been one of the best players in Europe this season and is rivalling Salah for the Ballon d'Or title.
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And according to Spanish reports, the France international has been earmarked as a potential Salah replacement, having followed him for a long time.
It's noted that the Anfield board are admirers of his 'speed, and his effectiveness in front of goal'.
Ousmane Dembele seasonal goal tallies
As a result, they are now willing to submit an offer of around €100m (£84m) to PSG. Such a lofty price tag would make this a difficult deal to navigate, but the allure of Premier League football after hitting his prime might hold sway in a potential summer saga.
Why Ousmane Dembele could replace Salah
It's becoming clear that Dembele's incredible form has stretched beyond that of a 'purple patch.' Indeed, having scored 21 goals since the start of 2025 (29 from 36 since the start of the season), he is turning into one of the finest in the business. In actual fact, he's been even more prolific than that man Salah this season, scoring every 1.2 games to the Egyptian's 1.3.
dembele-record-psg
As such, the Times' Peter Rutzler has even proclaimed that PSG boss Luis Enrique has "transformed Dembele into Europe's most prolific forward." Is there any reason to doubt this right now?
Absolutely not. Dembele ranks among the top 1% of forwards across the whole of Europe for goals scored (1.00), the top 1% for shot-creating actions and the top 1% again for progressive carries per 90, as per FBref.
Shot-creating actions are pieces of play that lead to a shot. These include moments such as a pass, take-on or foul being drawn.
Moreover, he has proved that he can throw down with the best of them on the continental stage, bagging eight goal involvements from ten Champions League fixtures and indeed scoring at Anfield en route to besting Slot's Reds.
Over those two-legged ties, it's safe to say he got the better of the great Virgil van Dijk and his defensive colleagues, amassing seven dribbles, three key passes and five shots on target.
Development in football is not linear. Kylian Mbappé and Yamine Lamal, for example, might have achieved superstardom at a prodigious age but Salah did not hit staggering heights until he signed for Liverpool in a £34m deal aged 25.
Dembele's career progression line has been a curious thing. A rip-roaring start to the senior stage saw him earn a transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona, rising to £135.5m, when he was merely 20 years old. It's probably fair to say it didn't quite work out at Camp Nou.
Ousmane-Dembele-PSG
And at PSG, for a long while, the Les Bleus star has struggled to break from the shadow of iconic figures such as Mbappé, Neymar Jr. and Lionel Messi, but now, as the main man, he has finally hit full bloom.
With only six assists across all competitions this term, Dembele does not possess Salah's creative ingenuity, though he is imbued with a new-found level of confidence and prolificness of a player belatedly coming into their own.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot before the match
While it would cost FSG a pretty penny, Dembele is one of the hottest properties on the market right now, interchangeable and effective from all three prongs of the attacking trident. Slot would relish the addition of such a player, with pace, potency and power combined.
Should Salah leave, Liverpool would do very well to find a more suitable forward.
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Liverpool have hit the jackpot with the impressive forward who is worth more than Ousmane Dembele.