Better than Diomande: Liverpool have held talks to sign £160m Salah replacement

Liverpool have hardly been riding the crest of a wave this season, but FSG will retain faith in Arne Slot and the title-winning potential of his Redmen squad.

Much rides on qualifying for the Champions League, though. Liverpool are fifth in the Premier League right now, locked in a battle with Chelsea (sixth), and Aston Villa and Manchester United ahead of them. The ramifications of missing out would be severe, limiting the scope of the Mohamed Salah succession plan.

Salah, 33, will drape the curtain on his iconic Anfield career this summer, having tumbled from his peerless standards over the course of the season.

Mohamed Salah’s PL Career at Liverpool
Season (* PL Title)	Apps	Goals + Assists
25/26	22	5 + 6
24/25*	38	29 + 18
23/24	32	18 + 10
22/23	38	19 + 12
21/22	35	23 + 13
20/21	37	22 + 5
19/20*	34	19 + 10
18/19	38	22 + 8
17/18	36	32 + 11

Replacing him will not be easy, but sporting director Richard Hughes and co are going to have to give it their best shot.

Liverpool already planning for Salah successor

Liverpool have been well below the standard this season, and while Slot’s future as head coach is uncertain, we know for sure that Salah is moving on, and a replacement is needed.

Michael Olise appears to be the Merseyside outfit’s dream target, but there’s little chance of Bayern Munich letting him leave this summer, so FSG have had to settle on alternative options such as RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande.

Diomande, 19, is one of the brightest young attackers in the world, but at £87m, any deal would be a risk.

But in Paris Saint-Germain sensation Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Liverpool could sign the perfect Salah replacement, someone to emerge as the main man out wide for Slot’s team.

Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano and Michael Olise in action with Paris St Germain’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

According to TEAMtalk, the 25-year-old has already been the subject of talks between FSG and intermediaries, though PSG are fiercely protective of their forwards and have no intention of selling. Of course, such stances are made all the time in football, and a lot could change once the market opens.

Kvaratskhelia wouldn’t come cheap. The Georgia international is valued at £160m by his French employers, so to bring him over to Merseyside this summer would require a British-record fee eclipsing the £125m payment for Alexander Isak last year.

Why Liverpool want to sign Kvaratskhelia

Interestingly, Kvaratskhelia prefers to play off the left flank. Since joining PSG from Napoli in January 2025, he has been utilised across the frontline, but his tactical versatility might actually allow him to emerge as Liverpool’s new superstar winger without having to mimic Salah in his output off the right wing, an impossible task.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s PSG Stats by Position
Position	Apps	Goals + Assists
Left wing	44	14 + 9
Right wing	14	6 + 5
Centre-forward	3	0 + 0

Across 69 appearances for the Parisians, Kvaratskhelia has scored 20 goals and supplied 15 assists. These are not Salah numbers, but the Georgian is a joy to watch and a ferocious threat. In truth, Liverpool’s view of wingers has been distorted by Salah’s enduring brilliance in the final third, and Kvaratskhelia would bring a different kind of threat, and that’s a good thing.

You could even say that he’d be the perfect signing for Slot’s side, eclipsing the impact that Diomande would make over the next few years. It’s unreasonable to expect the Ivory Coast star, so young and inexperienced, to make a world-class mark from the off, whereas ‘Kvara’ is already a global “superstar“, as said by journalist Graeme Bailey.

His performances in France this season have left a bit to be desired, but with such top-class efforts in the Champions League, Kvaratskhelia has underscored his quality as one of the world’s very best.

Diomande has the natural talent to become one of Europe’s leading wingers, but he’s still a teenager, growing into his professional skin. For such a big price tag, this could be a risky move for the Reds – after all, just look at Florian Wirtz, who has struggled to produce world-class performances in Slot’s system.

Signing Diomande would certainly not be a poor move from FSG, but if a deal for Kvaratskhelia could be done, then it’s something that Liverpool have to take up.