Liverpool transfer targets: How can Reds replace Mohamed Salah with PSG's Bradley Barcola and RB Leipzig's Yan Diomande?

Premier League champions Liverpool person struggled successful 2025-26, and with Mohamed Salah set to permission the club astatine the extremity of the season, the aboriginal of the Reds' onslaught remains uncertain.

Last summer, Arne Slot's broadside parted ways with a record-breaking £446.5m, shattering the British transportation grounds twice to motion German prima Florian Wirtz and prise striker Alexander Isak from Newcastle United.

The duo are apt to beryllium astatine the bosom of the Merseysiders' frontline for years to come, but while Wirtz has shown glimpses of his promise, it would beryllium just to accidental that his debut run astatine Anfield has been lacklustre, and Isak has been absent for ample chunks of the play done injury.

Out wide, Liverpool sold Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich, and though they received a steadfast £65.5m from Vincent Kompany's Bavarians, the winger was not replaced with a caller arrival.

With that successful mind, the 2026 summertime transportation model is definite to spot the Reds bolster their options connected the wings, and aft links to Bradley Barcola and Yan Diomande, Sports Mole takes a look astatine however the duo mightiness regenerate Salah.

How tin Bradley Barcola assistance Liverpool to regenerate Luis Diaz (and Sadio Mane)?

Given the impressive displays that Diaz has enactment on for Bayern this term, pundits specified arsenic Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher have questioned Liverpool's decision to merchantability the winger.

However, it is important to retrieve that portion the Colombian wide antheral was a consistently hard idiosyncratic connected the near flank, helium often failed to nutrient the numbers that would warrant his spot successful the XI of a squad competing connected each 4 fronts each season.

For example, Diaz spent overmuch of his clip connected the transportation past play operating arsenic the centre constituent of Slot's attack, and though helium is remembered for idiosyncratic moments specified arsenic his hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen, helium often endured adust spells, and scored conscionable erstwhile betwixt January 5 and April 2.

All-in-all, Diaz delivered lone 17 goals and 5 assists crossed 50 appearances during 2024-25, and it is notable that his lacklustre assistance fig was really the highest of his Reds career.

By contrast, Barcola registered 21 goals and 18 assists for Paris Saint-Germain past term, and for those acrophobic that Ligue 1 is of a little modular than the Premier League, the Frenchman contributed 3 goals and 4 assists connected the mode to winning the Champions League, successful examination to Diaz's 3 goals and zero assists successful the competition.

To beryllium just to the now-Bayern star, extremity contributions are not the lone metric by which a subordinate should beryllium judged, but Diaz was often criticised for failing to unrecorded up to the bequest of Sadio Mane's output from the left.

Mane's debut run nether Jurgen Klopp saw him notch 13 goals and supply 7 assists, outstripping Diaz's best-ever assistance numbers for Liverpool, portion matching his best-ever extremity numbers successful the league.

With that successful mind, Barcola could correspond an upgrade connected Diaz successful presumption of nonstop contributions, though the Reds whitethorn person to look elsewhere to regenerate his one-versus-one dribbling threat.

How tin Yan Diomande assistance Liverpool to regenerate Mohamed Salah?

Salah has breached countless records since making the power to Liverpool from Roma successful 2017, and it would beryllium near-impossible to straight regenerate the Egyptian winger, who is the club's third-highest goalscorer of each time.

That being said, the load of the 33-year-old's extremity output could beryllium shared by the likes of Isak and Barcola, portion a caller right-winger, specified arsenic Diomande, could supplement the frontline with his awesome well-rounded skillset.

At conscionable nineteen years of age, Diomande is 1 of the Bundesliga's standout stars, and has caught the oculus of apical clubs from astir the satellite portion providing 13 goals and 9 assists for Leipzig successful 2025-26 - a complaint of 1 publication each 112 minutes truthful far.

Raw extremity contributions aside, Salah has been the focal constituent of Liverpool's onslaught for the past 9 years, and helium consistently makes a precocious measurement of touches successful the last 3rd arsenic the squad look to the winger to usher the offence.

Diomande plays a akin relation for Die Roten Bullen, often being the fulcrum of Ole Werner's attack, and it is notable that the youngster has taken astir 65 touches per 90 this term - importantly much than Barcola (56.9), Cody Gakpo (45) and Salah (54) this season, arsenic good arsenic Diaz successful 2024-25 (49.2).

The Leipzig youngster has also attempted 39.7 passes per 90 truthful far, outpacing each of the supra players successful comparison, and it would not beryllium surprising if Liverpool's hierarchy spot Diomande's quality to pb an onslaught arsenic an important prime erstwhile assessing imaginable replacements for Salah.

One different cardinal spot that the 19-year-old could connection Slot's broadside is his immense dribbling capability, considering that helium boasts 4.4 instrumentality ons per 90 astatine a completion complaint of 60%, a higher fig and percent than adjacent Diaz (two p90 astatine a complaint of 50.96%) managed for the Reds.

Keeping successful caput that replacing Salah and Mane like-for-like is not a realistic possibility, Diomande's skillset could compliment Barcola's direct-to-goal quality successful bid to connection immoderate semblance of the celebrated duo, albeit with their responsibilities dispersed differently.