By Steve Northover
With the illustrious career of Mohammed Salah at Liverpool coming to an end, it's natural that the attention has switched to who will replace the talisman. Names such as Rodrygo at Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise have been mentioned as the Egyptian’s successors.
However, senior figures at the club have identified a far simpler solution. Having scored 255 goals from the right wing, Salah may be too good to be replaced entirely. The Reds appear to be placing future attacking prowess on Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Hugo Ekitike, all bought in for a combined £320 million last summer.
How will this work?
Modern football demands players who can play in multiple positions. All three players mentioned are able to play across the front three.
Florian Wirtz has arguably played his best football for Germany on the left, notably in a recent match against Switzerland, where the 22-year-old scored two - including a sumptuous strike from distance and created two more, in a 4-3 victory. Even after a slow start, Wirtz hasn’t been entirely ineffective at Liverpool.
Scoring six and creating nine in a season where Liverpool have lacked attacking grit up front. Finding feet in a new league and a new system was always going to be difficult to adjust to.
Image - Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Wirtz doesn’t have to switch roles for Germany as he does for the Reds. Dominantly playing on the left, he either switches positions across the front or withdraws to the midfield when the play requires him to do so. This makes him difficult to mark or defend against. However at Liverpool, with a manager who prefers a solid, slower type of play, his movement is less fluid and is often restricted to dummy runs or switches with either Cody Gakpo or Rio Ngumoha on the left.
But given more chances to express himself, and given the similarities in the makeup of the squad and playing style of play between Liverpool and Germany, there is nothing stopping the former Leverkusen winger replicating his international form for club
Given this season's form, Liverpool’s ‘central man' is almost certainly going to be Hugo Ekitike. The €95 million attacker from Eintracht Frankfurt has been a real bright spark in this dim lit season for the Reds, scoring 17 goals in 42 appearances.
His physique along with his style of play, often sitting on the shoulder of the last defender and picking up on through balls before running on to goal have drawn comparisons to Fernando Torres. Also like Torres, Ekitike is not averse to dropping back as an attacking midfielder, allowing players to push further forward and almost act as a dummy for the ‘number 8’ to burst forward and create chances.
Image - Getty Images
Like Wirtz, he is in rude form for his country. Capped five times for the French U21s and scoring five goals, he graduated to the first team last year, scoring two in eight as the French national team marched on into World Cup 2026.
Whilst his scoring rate has slowed down in recent weeks, that is a criticism for the entire team and then there is nothing to say that his form won't return at some point in the near future.
Finally, that leaves Alexander Isak.
Following a protracted transfer between Newcastle United and Liverpool, which culminated in the Swede refusing to report for pre-season training for the Magpies. All that is to say, that he arrived at Anfield unfit and untrained, leading a prolonged period on the sidelines until he was up to speed eventually making his first start in a 3-2 win against Atletico Madrid in mid-September.
Image - Liverpool FC via Getty Images
He went on to play fifteen times more, scoring three before breaking his leg on a 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur in December. All being well, the striker should return to the first team in early April, and will be looking to score more goals before the season ends.
How he fits within Liverpool remains a big question. Like Wirtz, he can play on the left, but like Ekitike his favoured location is as a striker. At Newcastle, similar to Wirtz, he was allowed to drop back or to the left, to augment the midfield or attacking phases. For a tall forward, Isak's close ball control is probably the superior of the three, able to use a combination of skill and brute force to outfox opposition defenders.
So how will they work together?
Well firstly, expect a much more fluid line up, with each player able to effectively play ‘anywhere’. This might probably bring an end to the era of fixed positions or at least in the short term. That fluidity will add a dynamic that has been entirely missing this season, with Gakpo and Salah often marked out of games in their entirety and Liverpool being restricted to a compact, claustrophobic midfield.
All three players have an eye for a pass as much as a goal, so whatever tactics are employed next season, expect a greater emphasis on creative passing and buildup play, something that has been missing this season. Ultimately, all three players are marked by performances where they have been given the freedom to play, and not necessarily stick to a rigid game plan. So whoever is the manager next season, they will need to employ the front three inherent creative abilities, if they expect to get any success in the years to come.
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