Why Liverpool want £100m-rated Chelsea star to replace Mo Salah

Farewell then, Cody Gakpo, you’ve played an important role for Liverpool since arriving from PSV Eindhoven in January 2023.

The Dutch forward’s proposed £85m transfer to Premier League rivals Manchester City hasn’t actually been finalised as FSG continue to mull over their best course of action, but Liverpool are ready to press the big button, just as soon as they have found a new right winger to smooth out Andoni Iraola‘s attacking system.

Let’s be honest: FSG have lost their touch. Liverpool are no longer the savvy several-steps-ahead operators that they once were in the transfer market, and this summer can only be defined as ‘erratic’ for the Liverpool persuasion, who still haven’t replaced Mohamed Salah at right wing.

Why Liverpool have suffered a catastrophe of a transfer window

Salah still hasn’t been replaced, and we have just one day left until the summer transfer window slams shut. There are some who feel that Gakpo should not be allowed to leave, even if a winger such as Yankuba Minteh or Ismaila Sarr is brought over at right wing.

The Eagles, who do not want to sell their Senegalese forward, have quoted the Reds at £75m, which would not represent good value for money at all. Sarr scored 21 times in all competitions for title-winning Palace last season, but he only bagged nine goals in the Premier League, which his playmaking output negligible. Is this really the right signing for Liverpool to be making?

Salah might have flattered to deceive under Arne Slot’s wing last season, but the Egyptian King remains the overlord of the Premier League’s attacking quality in recent years. Surely a plan should have been in place to secure a replacement nice and early?

Efforts were made to sign Yan Diomande earlier in the window, but the Ivorian winger rejected Liverpool in favour of Paris Saint-Germain. As it goes, he ended up signing for Real Madrid in a record-breaking deal.

We’re still waiting for Salah to be replaced. We’re still waiting for Liverpool to prove they have what it takes to return to the top. We might be waiting for a while longer if Sarr is welcomed to fight in Salah’s old seat.

REUTERS/Paul Childs

But Liverpool could hit the jackpot by exploring a different, more ambitious route.

Liverpool in talks to sign the new Salah

It should have been sorted sooner, but while Liverpool need a right winger, they cannot settle on a mediocre option, even with time running out at the end of the transfer window.

Salah regressed last season, but Liverpool could land a signing who could come to rival even prime Salah by firming up interest in one of Chelsea’s rising superstars.

According to recent reports from France, Chelsea’s Estevao Willian has emerged as Liverpool’s dream target at the end of the transfer window, with talks being held “in the past 24 hours”, said one reporter on Sunday evening.

Chelsea, it should go without saying, are not inclined to sell, and it would indeed take a mammoth bid for the Blues to cash in on their prodigious right winger. Back in December 2025, Manchester City sniffed around, but they were told it would take a fee in excess of £100m to prise the Brazilian away from Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea welcomed Estevao to England last year. He arrived from Palmeiras for an initial £29m fee, and has been touted as a “future Ballon d’Or winner” by analyst Ben Mattinson.

Sarr is a decade Estevao’s senior. He has more experience and may well outscore the Brazilian prospect, should he join Liverpool in the coming hours. However, Liverpool would secure a far shrewder long-term deal in landing Estevao, who has the trappings of a world-class superstar. In that, he could emulate Salah in becoming a legend at Anfield.

Last season, the 19-year-old scored two goals and supplied two assists in the Premier League. He played 22 times, starting 12 matches, and could do with an environment in which his potential can be realised as a starting option. At Liverpool, this might just happen, with Iraola desperately searching for a right-sider.

The teenager’s flair and X-factor marks him as the perfect Salah replacement, someone who Iraola can mould to his vision over the coming years while still enjoying an instant lift provided by such innate pace and potency down the right wing.

Whether Liverpool are prepared to fork out a nine-figure fee once again remains to be seen, but if Gakpo leaves in an £85m deal, this could be the perfect signing to provide Anfield with a dream Salah replacement.