Who is Liverpool’s star forward? Is it still Mohamed Salah?
Only in May was the 33-year-old handed many individual awards to surmount his team triumph with Liverpool. For his defining role in Arne Slot’s triumphant debut campaign, Salah has put to rest any doubts that he is one of the greatest players in Premier League history.
But even Salah will one day retire, and his start to the 2025/26 campaign has brought to mind the concerns that he has passed his prime and is part of the problem Slot is wrestling with, Liverpool having lost three in a row this season and lacking any of the fluency and zip on show for most of last season.
Given that the Egyptian King signed a new two-year contract on Merseyside in April, it’s clear that he and FSG feel that this story is not yet over, but sporting director Richard Hughes has nonetheless added quality to Liverpool’s attacking ranks, with Alexander Isak the showpiece.
Why Liverpool signed Alexander Isak
For nine years, Liverpool have boasted Salah as their star goalscorer, but the record-breaking addition of Isak from Newcastle United on transfer deadline day underscores a shifting of the plates at Anfield. The balance of offensive power has swung.
Last season, Isak scored 27 goals across all competitions for Newcastle. He scored what proved the decisive second strike in a 2-1 win over Slot’s Reds at Wembley in March. It was there that he lifted the Carabao Cup.
Many attacking departures this summer led to FSG deciding to break the bank for a striker already established as one of the best in the business. Isak, now, will be expected to produce the goods over many years to spearhead a trophy-laden chapter.
Salah, Liverpool’s adopted son. But he’s getting old, and should he recover that same giddy level of 2024/25, it is sure to be a short-lived thing when viewed against the potential of some of his Liverpool teammates.
Like Isak. The Sweden international is 26 years old and fully settled into his Premier League career. Already, he has been described by pundit Ally McCoist as being “the best all-round centre-forward” in England.
However, he’s not Salah. Instead, Liverpool might find another within their ranks to look more like the natural replacement for the £400k-per-week superstar, albeit not quite positionally.
Slot's own Salah-type signing
When Salah first arrived at Liverpool, he arrived under scrutiny. Scroll through the archives and you will find plenty of criticism when Jurgen Klopp oversaw a £34m purchase of Roma winger Salah, formerly of Chelsea, where he failed to impress.
But nine years later, he is a Liverpool legend, having won more than his share of silverware and scored more than his share of goals.
With Salah now winding down, Hugo Ekitike could step up as the new version of the talisman, with some interesting parallels between the two.
Having joined the club from Eintracht Frankfurt this summer for an initial £69m fee, Liverpool felt they had signed one of the finest young forwards in the business. Indeed, talent scout Jacek Kulig said of the Frenchman during his days with Eintracht Frankfurt: “He could definitely reach world-class striker levels.”
But that’s a big some for a 23-year-old who had previously struggled at a big club. Before moving to Germany, Ekitike had swapped Reims in his homeland for the Paris Saint-Germain superpower, arriving in July 2022 for a €35m (about £30.5m) fee.
But, described as a “goal machine” by Liverpool correspondent David Lynch, Liverpool have landed themselves a far more complete and primed verison.
Four goals were all he scored in the French capital, having played 33 matches. This is somewhat similar to Salah’s return at Chelsea, posting two goals and three assists for the Blues before being sold to Roma.
Liverpool’s scouting team have long known their stuff, though, and Ekitike’s underlying data is a thing to behold. In fact, looking at his performance across the past year, it’s hard to distinguish the up-and-comer from the mighty Isak, which is a towering testament to his quality.
Goals scored
0.76
0.50
Assists
0.21
0.24
Shots taken
3.13
3.65
Shot-creating actions
2.96
3.15
Touches (att pen)
6.16
6.46
Pass completion (%)
75.4
75.0
Progressive passes
3.23
1.96
Progressive carries
2.65
2.78
Successful take-ons
1.38
1.61
Ball recoveries
1.93
2.38
Aerials won
0.89
1.83
There’s not a lot to separate the two. Isak is the more refined and effective goalscorer, but Ekitike is more complete and aggressive when on the ball, and better with his head besides.
These are rare breeds of centre-forward, and Liverpool now have frontmen with the quality to take the reins from Salah over the next couple of years and lead Slot’s side to more glory. Isak is a product of several years of successful development in the Premier League, but Ekitike knows what it’s like to fall by the wayside at one of the continent’s biggest hitters, and he shares that with Salah.
With five goals and an assist across his first ten matches as a Liverpool striker, Ekitike has started life as a Red on strong footing. Salah did too, breaking the record for goals in a 38-game Premier League campaign when he first returned to English shores.
Whether Ekitike will quite achieve the same degree of success is debatable, to be sure, but the fact remains that Liverpool have pulled off some exceptional business this summer, and while FSG must turn toward identifying a successor on the right wing in the coming windows, Salah’s proverbial heir has been located and welcomed in the form of Ekitike.
He is set for the top.
