Nunez, Gakpo and Jota: Long-Term Replacements for Salah?

Speaking about the injury Mo Salah suffered during the 2023 AFCON, Jurgen Klopp shared: "Salah rarely leaves the pitch midway, so he must be feeling something." Klopp is right; apart from his talent, Salah's presence at Anfield has been marked by remarkable stability and endurance over the past seven seasons.

In the six previous seasons, Salah played a minimum of 48 matches and a maximum of 52 matches. This season, before heading to Africa, Salah had already played 27 matches and scored 18 goals. Salah's presence is so crucial that every time he is absent, Liverpool fans become anxious.

However, with time, Salah will age, and injuries may become more frequent. With his current contract expiring in 2025, the possibility of Salah being sold next summer while still holding considerable value is not implausible. In other words, it's time for Liverpool to prepare for a future without Salah.

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Changing a habit of seven years is indeed challenging. Looking at the remaining options at Klopp's disposal, the task appears even more daunting. In the Premier League this season, Salah continues to stand out with 14 goals. Jota and Nunez have only scored 5 goals each, Diaz and Gakpo have 3 each. When looking at the ratios, the average number of goals Salah scores every 90 minutes in the Premier League is 0.69, followed by Nunez at 0.45, Gakpo at 0.39, Diaz at 0.32. Jota leaves the best impression since joining Anfield, with 0.61 goals every 90 minutes.

Based on these statistics, can we conclude that Jota is the rightful successor to Salah? This will depend on whether Jota can improve his resilience. Since arriving in Merseyside in 2020, Jota has missed a total of 64 matches for Liverpool and the Portuguese national team due to injuries. Specifically in the Premier League, Jota misses about 10 matches per season.

Another crucial point is that there is no player who truly fits Salah's role on the right flank. Jota is effective but mostly when playing off the left or as a center forward. Nunez, Gakpo, and Diaz are also more comfortable drifting towards the left half of the field to maximize their right-footed abilities.

Overall, it's not that Liverpool doesn't want to reduce their dependence on Salah, but the reality doesn't allow it. As Klopp has stated, Salah is the best contemporary player in his position worldwide. Therefore, unless Liverpool finds someone equally exceptional, replacing Salah remains an insurmountable challenge.

Nevertheless, Klopp still has time to experiment. Besides placing faith in those who remain, specifically the trio of Nunez, Gakpo, and Jota, there really isn't any other option.

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