Liverpool think £83m player is going to move next year and may sacrifice Mo Salah to get him - journalist

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Liverpool are ticking down towards what could end up being a tumultuous summer transfer window.

There is long, long way to go in the season before we get there, of course, but the Reds will already be planning where to add to the squad in 2025.

A big factor in what Liverpool are going to have to do will be how everything shakes out with superstar forward Mohamed Salah.

Salah’s future has been in the spotlight this week after the Egyptian publicly admitted that he is ‘more out than in’ at Liverpool for next season.

There is still plenty of time for that to change and supporters will hope that the club can resolve things with one of the best players in Liverpool history.

However, according to journalist Graeme Bailey, one of the complications could be that the Reds are sensing the chance to get an ideal long-term successor for Salah.

Liverpool unwilling to miss Khvicha Kvaratskhelia chance

Liverpool’s situation with Salah is a complex one, no doubt. Although the 32-year-old could yet play on for many years, he is still going to need replacing at some stage.

What the Liverpool owners must weigh up is whether or not next summer is the ideal time to do that.

Part of the reasoning behind that will be dependent on which players are available to be signed on the back of Salah potentially leaving.

And speaking exclusively to Rousing The Kop, Bailey says that the likely availability of Napoli forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – as well as Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams – is giving them pause for thought.

READ MORE: Michael Owen reveals he’s been given some inside information on Mo Salah’s contract extension

“People say how much will it take to replace him, but there are options out there,” says the transfer expert.

“There are some interesting names out there. From the likes of Kvaratskhelia to Nico Williams, there are some names who we know Liverpool are looking at. I think that’s probably part of the conversation.

“What happens if they tie down Salah and then Kvaratskhelia and Nico Williams move this summer?” Bailey floats. “They’d be thinking ‘well we should have been in that conversation really’. So, I think that’s part of the consideration as well.”

Kvaratskhelia could be ideal Salah replacement

If Liverpool do end up deciding not to match Salah’s demands and let him leave the club on a free, then they’re going to have to do something big to replace him.

Given that they spent barely anything in the transfer market in 2024 – and factoring in the wages that having Salah off the books would save – the Reds would have the funds there to go and get a huge player.

In our opinion, that player could well be Kvaratskhelia. The Georgian would reportedly command an £83m transfer fee, which would satisfy supporters looking for a statement signing.

Kvaratskhelia is a big name who’s playing style would hugely excite supporters in the absence of Salah.

Obviously, the Georgian is not left-footed and so his arrival would potentially necessitate a switch in approach from Arne Slot’s team. But as he is very much still working with the Liverpool squad he inherited from Jurgen Klopp, who’s to say that isn’t what Slot wants anyway?

Most would still prefer to see the Egyptian King sign on and stay at Anfield for a few more years to come, but as Kvaratskhelia could prove, there would be life after Salah.