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Liverpool are brewing a homegrown Salah in 16-year-old ace with "remarkable" potential - opinion

Much is uncertain, but we do know Liverpool will be undergoing an extensive summer rebuild.

It's peculiar, in a way, for Arne Slot's debut campaign in the dugout has been one of exceeded expectations. Liverpool are 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League, nine games left to play.

But the frontline has been largely profligate, overly reliant on Mohamed Salah's brilliance; the 32-year-old Salah, of course, is out of contract this summer, captain Virgil van Dijk and his vice Trent Alexander-Arnold too.

Liverpool-Trent-Salah-Van-Dijk-Contract

Reporter Lewis Steele has suggested Liverpool will target four or five new signings this summer. Of course, such claims are conjecture, albeit threaded with substance and reasoning.

If Liverpool were to lose Salah, he would need to be replaced with a world-class forward. However, even if he pens a new deal, keeping him at Anfield for the next couple of terms, FSG must find a successor.

The latest on Mohamed Salah's Liverpool future

It's quite the conundrum, to be fair. On one hand, FSG have already stretched their financial parameters by tying Salah down to a bumper £350k-per-week contract in 2022, making him the best-paid player in Liverpool's history. To raise his earnings once more would be new territory.

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah reacts

Salah turns 33 in July. Let's theorise for a moment; let's say Salah adds two seasons to his deal. By the time his contract wraps up, the Egypt international would be 35, with little guarantee, from FSG's view, that he will still be producing the goods.

But oh how he's producing them right now. Salah might have struggled to influence crushing defeats against Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United, but he's hardly drifted through Slot's first season in charge. Some might say (with justification) that Salah is the man behind Liverpool's surprise emergence as Premier League title favourites.

Most Goal Involvements - Europe's Top 5 Leagues (24/25)

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Data via Transfermarkt

He's miles ahead in the European Golden Boot race, with Salah's production across all competitions this season marking a haul of 32 goals and 22 assists. Frankly, this is absurd - and there are nine Premier League matches remaining too.

For sure, FSG would be wading through uncharted waters in extending Salah's stay at Liverpool. But then he's a legend. Worthy of special allowances. He is, after all, "Liverpool's greatest Premier League player" - in the eyes of Reds writer Vishal Subramanian, at least.

The alternative would be losing him this summer and moving to sign an inferior replacement. The cost and collateral damage is simply not what Slot, who for all intents and purposes is moving toward the title, deserves or needs to maintain fluency.

Luckily, Liverpool have a homegrown Salah successor, one who is not yet ready for a starting spot in Liverpool's first team, but one who could become a real player in the years to come - perhaps spending the next few years as the legendary right-winger's understudy.

Liverpool's homegrown Salah successor

Your mind may be drawn to Ben Doak, 19, whose performances off the right for Middlesbrough in the Championship this season have earned him plenty of plaudits.

But he's not the man in mind here.

Ben Doak in action for Scotland

Instead, Rio Ngumoha has the prodigious potential to forge a career in Salah's place.

Ngumoha is 16. 16 years old. We'll be into the 2026/27 season by the time he reaches manhood. And after being poached from Chelsea's Cobham academy last summer, he's already made his professional debut, already made his first start, playing for more than an hour as the Reds thrashed Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup.

He gave a good account of himself. As per Sofascore, he took 30 touches, completed 89% of his passes, won three duels and just as many dribbles.

Diogo Jota hailed the "remarkable" youngster's role on the day, with the stats indeed highlighting Liverpool have got a player on their hands, endowed with the breezy athleticism and rugged tenacity that Salah wore on his sleeve during his younger days.

Liverpool youngster Rio Ngumoha

The winger's still got it, though. There's something of a narrative around Salah being Mr. Goals & Assists, not much else. Those of a Liverpool persuasion do not subscribe to this notion. Salah has actually averaged 1.8 dribbles and 3.8 successful duels per game in the Premier League.

Not bad for the world's most potent forward, heading toward his 33rd birthday and no doubt frustrated by his frontal teammates' dearth of success in front of goal.

Widely regarded as an elite-level talent by those in the know, Ngumoha has the world at his feet, and may become one of Liverpool's standouts in the years to come.

Of course, he's still so young. Ngmoha prefers to play off the left but his dynamic technical ability permits a place across the frontline. Salah remaining at the club would allow Ngumoha to earn sporadic opportunities, fostering his talents on the youth scene while glimpsing invaluable flashes of senior life, all the while absorbing the fruits of his distinguished senior teammate's art.

Slot's willingness to give Ngumoha chances already bodes well for his future, and there's little question Liverpool hit the jackpot when plucking the teenage talent from Chelsea's ranks, now looking to shape him into a superstar.

Liverpool stars Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah

The summer draws near. Tin hats on, folks, there are bound to be ups and downs, spirit-raising breakthroughs and deflating revelations apiece. Keeping Salah and all his potency might just be the most important piece of business Liverpool could strike.

However, in the longer run, such a prospect as Rio Ngumoha could ease the Egyptian's departure when that time does come.

Just hopefully not yet, eh?

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[Best signing since Van Dijk: Liverpool struck gold on £150k-p/w "leader"](https://www.footballfancast.com/liverpool-best-signing-since-van-dijk-slot-struck-gold-on-mac-allister/ "Best signing since Van Dijk: Liverpool struck gold on £150k-p/w "leader"")

He's been one of the most transformational acquisitions in recent years for Liverpool.

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