Five Mo Salah replacements Liverpool could sign in summer transfer window after exit announcement

The Anfield throne will soon be vacated, as on the evening of Tuesday, March 24, 2026, Mohamed Salah - one of the greatest players to pull on a Liverpool shirt - confirmed he would leave the club at the end of the season.

The Egyptian king's Merseyside chapter has spanned nine glittering campaigns, during which he has won almost everything there is to win, become a Champions League winner, a two-time Premier League champion and a four-time Golden Boot winner, but above all, a Liverpool legend.

However, Salah's 2025-26 numbers have told the story of a player whose age is catching up to him, and attention will soon turn to the juvenile talents that could potentially end up filling the 33-year-old's humongous boots.

Here, Sports Mole picks out five players Liverpool could sign to replace Salah in the 2026 summer transfer window.

Yan Diomande (RB Leipzig)

Fourteen years Salah's junior at just 19, RB Leipzig's electrifying young talent Yan Diomande is already being lined up for a blockbuster move to the Premier League after setting the Bundesliga alight in recent months.

An unknown when he was added to the Red Bull ranks in 2025, Diomande - who cost Leipzig £17.3m to sign from Leganes last summer - has immediately justified his price tag and then some with 11 goals and eight assists in 29 games for the German giants.

The versatile winger - who is comfortable on the left or right flank - even scored a hat-trick in a 6-0 pummelling of Eintracht Frankfurt, and Leipzig are supposedly willing to entertain bids of less than £70m for the Ivorian's sale this summer.

Manchester United and Chelsea will provide stiff competition for his signature, but the allure of following in Salah's footsteps at Liverpool may be too good to turn down.

Michael Olise (Bayern Munich)

Sticking with the Bundesliga theme, Liverpool are no strangers to forking out £100m+ plus for German football talents - see Florian Wirtz - and they may have to do so again to sign a player who is most likely fans' top Salah replacement pick.

If Michael Olise was exceptional in the Premier League for Crystal Palace, the France international has been nothing short of extraordinary for Bayern Munich, amassing 36 goals and 50 assists in 94 matches for the Bundesliga champions.

Olise has been smashing records left, right and centre under Vincent Kompany and is under contract at the Allianz Arena until 2029, so Bayern are well-placed to demand a mammoth nine-figure fee for the London-born attacker this summer.

Whether Liverpool can fork out another £100m after doing so twice last year remains to be seen, though, and all of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City could rival them for Olise, whose ideal destination has apparently been revealed.

Bradley Barcola (Paris Saint-Germain)

A little over 12 months ago, Liverpool were thought to be leading contenders to sign Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli, but the Premier League champions could not compete with Paris Saint-Germain's financial muscle as the Georgian ended up in the French capital.

However, one man who has not always been a beneficiary of Kvaratskhelia's arrival is Bradley Barcola, often outshone by Kvaradona, Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele during PSG's run to 2024-25 Champions League glory, albeit while still playing his own key role.

The Frenchman has nevertheless come up with a respectable 12 goals and six assists from 38 games this season - including strikes in both legs of the UCL last-16 win over Chelsea - but he will enter the last two years of his deal this summer.

Liverpool supposedly turned their attention to Barcola after missing out on Antoine Semenyo over the winter, although the 23-year-old favours the left wing and could therefore step on the toes of the young Rio Ngumoha.

Maghnes Akliouche (Monaco)

One of the latest gems to emerge from the famed Monaco academy, 24-year-old Maghnes Akliouche will soon enter the prime years of his career and has been sending tongues wagging for the past couple of years.

The France international hit double figures for assists in the 2024-25 Ligue 1 campaign, and he has produced 15 direct involvements from 36 appearances in all tournaments during the current season - seven of his own and eight helpers.

Akliouche also scored his maiden France goal in November's 3-1 victory over Azerbaijan and - like Barcola - is also out of contract in 2028, apparently alerting top Premier League and Ligue 1 clubs to his potential availability.

Monaco are rumoured to have slapped a £59m price tag on Akliouche's head last summer, which proved too pricey for PSG, but possibly not for Liverpool or Man Utd.

Moussa Diaby (Al-Ittihad)

Remember him?

The talk of the town during the 2021-22 Bundesliga season with Bayer Leverkusen, Moussa Diaby shone during one Premier League season with Aston Villa before surprisingly jumping ship for Al-Ittihad in 2024.

The 26-year-old has continued to provide assists for fun in Saudi Arabia - registering 29 in 63 games - albeit while only scoring nine of his own, including two in the 2025-26 Saudi Pro League.

Nevertheless, Diaby's lack of goal threat has not stopped Liverpool from reportedly making contact with his representatives, and the Reds would have no problem forking out the £35m it would take to bring him back to England.