Alan Shearer believes Mohamed Salah’s departure could do more than strip Liverpool of their best-known forward. He said Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak may be mentally freed when Salah leaves Anfield this summer on a free transfer.
That is why the florian wirtz alexander isak liverpool search is live now: the club are moving into a summer in which Salah has called time on his nine-year stay, and the scale of the rebuild is already being measured against a season that fell short. Liverpool spent £450million on new arrivals last summer, including Isak for a British record £125m and Wirtz for £116m, but Shearer said the recruitment has not worked yet and expects the two big signings to improve once the shadow of Salah is gone.
“Their recruitment last summer hasn’t worked yet. Now, Milos Kerkez may get better, Jeremie Frimpong may get better, Wirtz may get better and Isak may get better and I think, because of Mo Salah leaving, mentally it will free up those guys,” Shearer said. He added that he does expect them to improve, a view that frames Liverpool’s attack less as a finished project than a work in progress.
The wider problem is that Salah’s exit does not solve everything. Liverpool also need another huge summer, Shearer said, because the club cannot ask a new wave of signings to spend 12 or 18 months settling in while results are expected immediately. He pointed to the forward line and said Liverpool need another striker ready to come in and score 15 goals, especially with Hugo Ekitike set to be out and with Cody Gakpo and Rio Ngumoha among the other options mentioned.
There is also uncertainty elsewhere in the squad, with Shearer noting the possible exits of Andy Robertson and maybe Ibrahima Konate. That makes the summer feel less like a tidy refresh and more like a second rebuild, coming only months after Arne Slot was sacked on Saturday following a frustrating season after winning the league.
Liverpool have been linked with 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande, whom Shearer called a talented player, and he said a move would likely cost a lot of money. Diomande will represent Ivory Coast in the forthcoming World Cup, which only adds to the sense that Liverpool are scanning for players who can contribute quickly rather than later.
That is the line running through this summer: Salah is leaving, Wirtz and Isak may breathe more freely without him, but Liverpool still have to prove they can build a forward line that works now, not after another year of waiting.
