Liverpool's solution to Mo Salah's AFCON problem is obvious
Another problem that will be at the forefront of Arne Slot's mind right now is how will Mohamed Salah be covered when he meets up with Egypt in December and January for the African Cup of Nations?
Federico Chiesa's future is directly part of this, since the Italian plays on the right-wing but rarely gets minutes since he's constantly in competition with Salah and often sidelined with an injury.
In Frimpong, Liverpool have a potential solution, since the Dutchman played at right wing-back for Leverkusen, meaning he is used to playing a forward role. Last season he had 14 goal contributions.
But it's plausible that more options could be required and Liverpool have already spent heavily.
So how else could this problem be solved? One way is to keep Harvey Elliott this summer and give him a more extensive role in the team by not over-playing Salah and managing his minutes.
The Egyptian has cemented his place in the team, having delivered elite attacking numbers over the last eight seasons, but he is now 33 years old and eventually you would expect him to slow down.
His 57 goal contributions last season tell a different story, but it was the best campaign of his career and the likelihood of how delivering similar numbers is particularly low, but I guess we'll have to see.
Nonetheless, approaches for Elliott have so far fallen short of his market value and the Englishman is still very much 'reviewing his situation'. Keeping him in the team is still a very likely situation.
If that were to happen, then for most of the season, Liverpool would have Stefan Bajcetic, Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wirtz, alongside Elliott as their midfield options - a particularly stacked squadron to be choosing from.
And as mentioned earlier, he would help Frimpong to carry the burden of covering Salah when AFCON rolls around. A successful campaign would simultaneously raise his market value, allowing the club to take even higher offers for him when next summer arrives. If you're still not convinced, then the homegrown quota might be worth looking at. Elliott ticks that box for us at the very least.
So perhaps consider such a state of affairs in the next few weeks because our two-time U21 Euros winner is worth a pretty penny and selling him for less than he's worth would be poor business.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Liverpool rocked by rival contract offer for defender
Liverpool are facing considerable uncertainty over . The defender is out of contract in less than 12 months and so far no agreement has been reached over a new deal. If Konate and sporting director Richard Hughes cannot come to a conclusion over new terms then it is highly likely he will depart as a free agent in 2026. LFC Kits Shop Now LFC x New Era Shop Now LFC Signed Merch Shop Now LFC x Titleist Shop Now Real Madrid have been the team most closely linked with the 26-year-old - who joined the Reds from RB Leipzig in 2021. Konate's situation is one reason why Liverpool have been linked with centre-backs this summer. Having sold Jarell Quansah - and with Joe Gomez injury prone - it appears that Virgil van Dijk is the ONLY central defender the club can count on with any degree of certainty up to 2027. Nathan Zeze on Liverpool radar And there are established links with Marc Guehi - who is out of contract with Crystal Palace in 2026 - while reports are also suggesting Ronald Araujo could be a target. Younger options have also been discussed in the shape of Giovanni Leoni, Joel Ordonez and Nathan Zeze. Zeze, 20, is a product of the Nantes academy who has reportedly been on the radar of the Reds for a few months now. However they will NOT be signing the France under-21 international having been blown out of the water by a contract offer from Saudi Arabia. NEOM SC sign Zeze NEOM SC - a newly-promoted Saudi Pro League team - have completed the signing of Zeze for around €25m - a sum that Liverpool could have easily afforded. But TBR Football is reporting that the Reds - and Bournemouth - opted against making a rival bid for Zeze owing to the riches laid in front of him by the Saudis. 'Liverpool have pulled out of a move for an 'incredible' replacement for Jarell Quansah due to a 'huge offer' from the Saudi Pro League,' the report reads. 'Nantes have agreed an overall deal worth €25million (£21.5million) – which in theory the European clubs would have matched. 'However, the terms on offer in Saudi have pushed him beyond what they were willing to do.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nicolas Jackson addresses transfer rumours and competition doubts in exclusive interview
Nicolas Jackson is enjoying his holiday after a long season, but he's just given an interview with DSports in his native Senegal about his second year with Chelsea: 'We thank God. I won two trophies. There were difficult moments, moments of glory,' the striker said when asked to look back on Chelsea's year. 'Every season is like that. But the most important thing is to stay focused, to learn, and to grow in the face of adversity.' Jackson himself had a strange season – the first half he looked to have gone to another level. He was scoring for fun and had ironed out some of the issues from his first campaign. But a dreadful run without goals, an injury and a couple of silly red cards undid a lot of good work. The Senegal star was philosophical about it: 'That's football. There are ups and downs. But I didn't lack confidence. I was focused on what I needed to improve. The most important thing is to get up at the right time, without getting distracted.' Jackson then picked out a game as his favourite of the season: 'The match against PSG. Everyone thought we were going to get beaten. But we believed in ourselves, we gave it our all, and we won. It was a very powerful moment. But now we have to look ahead.' Jackson on competition in Chelsea squad growing Liam Delap enters for Joao Pedro. (Photo by) 'Competition? I have no competition. We're all here to help the club. Everyone has their role to play. I'm on a mission. It's up to the coach to make his choices. I focus solely on my work,' the striker said when asked about his two new rivals to lead the line, Joao Pedro and Liam Delap. That's the sort of attitude we love. When asked about a potential move away, he certainly didn't jump at the chance to push for a move: 'I'm a Chelsea player. The future belongs to God. If there are any changes, you'll know. For now, I'm focused on my preparation.'
New York Times
3 hours ago
- New York Times
Rio Ngumoha is still only 16. But this is why he is impossible to ignore at Liverpool
As several Liverpool senior players found their touch and technique deserting them on the cut-up surface of the Nissan Stadium, Rio Ngumoha showed them how it's done. Not for the first time during this pre-season, the 16-year-old was the player everybody was talking about following another brilliant cameo that included the goal that sealed Liverpool's 3-1 victory over Yokohama F Marinos. Advertisement In just 26 minutes, the youngster lit up the game in Tokyo, bamboozling the hosts' tiring defence, just as he had in previous games against Preston North End, Stoke City and Milan. It is a testament to how he is viewed and the impact he has made this summer that Liverpool do not see left wing as an area of their squad that needs strengthening, even after the sale of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich. Cody Gakpo is the established left-winger, while Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike could also play there. But Ngumoha's development has seen him force his way into Slot's thinking for a permanent place in his first-team squad and potentially save the club some money in the transfer market. There is no desire to block Ngumoha's pathway to senior football. So, how has he done it? When Ngumoha chose to leave Chelsea for Liverpool last year, the London club were furious that they were losing one of England's brightest young talents. Since his arrival, he has shown why there was such disappointment in west London, impressing Liverpool's senior and academy coaching staff in training sessions and matches for various age groups. His surprise start against Accrington Stanley in the third round of the FA Cup in January exposed him to Liverpool supporters at first-team level and rewarded him for the rapid progress he was making. His 72-minute showing at Anfield that day was full of quick feet and excitement. The League Two side quickly doubled up on him and the only missing piece to his performance was end product — quite normal for a 16-year-old making their debut. Still, as he returned to the under-21 setup for the rest of the campaign, improving his end product became a point of emphasis. If any indication was needed on how that is going, he has two goals and one assist in his four appearances so far in pre-season. Advertisement His goal at Yokohama illustrated how dangerous he can be with the ball at his feet and space to run into. With Liverpool on the counter-attack, Ngumoha advanced from near the halfway line and showed his confidence to keep hold of the ball rather than use any of his team-mates, skip past the challenge of Kosei Suwama, and fire a shot beyond Ryoya Kimura. The smile on Mohamed Salah's face in the moments after the goal further emphasised the impact he has made. Salah and other senior squad members, including Andy Robertson, have helped Ngumoha settle in at first-team level, offering advice when possible. There is a fearlessness to everything he does, but he couples that with quality. This isn't a youngster dribbling down blind alleys to try to impress; this is a winger tormenting defenders with trickery, pace and purpose. From the moment he was named in the starting XI against Preston, Ngumoha has had one aim: to get on the ball and drive at his opponent. He was a constant threat at Deepdale and the source of several key chances, including Conor Bradley's opening goal. He is not quite a chalk-on-boots winger, but Ngumoha stays high and wide to give him space to be found by team-mates. That allows him to build up speed and attack the defender, putting them on the back foot. As the example below shows, when he is around the opposition penalty box, he uses his close control, agility and acceleration to burst away from opponents. On this occasion, he shaped to come inside before darting to the byline. His cross was intercepted with Darwin Nunez ready to pounce. A similar move nearly led to a goal against Milan, when he used that speed to wrong-foot Fikayo Tomori and unleash an effort on goal that was parried away by Mike Maignan. The connection he has built with Trey Nyoni has been on display, too, and the pair complement each other on the pitch. When playing together, the pair frequently combine with one-twos around the opposition area, with Ngumoha capable of making dangerous runs into the box, and Nyoni has the quality to pick out the return pass. He nearly got on the scoresheet earlier against Yokohama by linking with Nyoni. Again, Ngumoha used his agility to work a shooting opportunity, breaking into a similar position to where he scored his goal against Stoke, but his effort was saved. That moment, however, was also a reminder that Ngumoha is a young man with plenty to learn, especially in regards to his decision-making. While he did manage to shoot, he could have laid the ball off to Alexis Mac Allister or Curtis Jones to create a better goalscoring opportunity. That was not lost on Slot when he addressed the media after the game. 'There was also a moment in the game where he should have squared it to Macca (Mac Allister) or Curtis (Jones),' he said. 'So, (there were) also learning parts for him. But if you are 16 and you can impact the game like he did, that's definitely worth a compliment. 'Rio again showed the quality he has and that's nice for us because we have a lot of very good players. But to get some very good players through the academy is always helpful and always gives energy to a team as well.' Ngumoha's most encouraging performance of the four so far was against Milan when he came up against Tomori, who is an experienced top-level defender that has strength and speed. The 27-year-old got the better of the early exchanges, but as the half wore on, Ngumoha's relentlessness allowed him to start getting the better of the defender, including for his assist for Dominik Szoboszlai. His quick feet forced Tomori to backpedal and created space for him to cross the ball. While the low delivery was blocked, Ngumoha didn't rush his next move, playing the sensible pass to Szoboszlai, who produced an excellent finish. Given this was a summer without a major international tournament, Slot has been able to work with the bulk of his first-team squad from the moment pre-season began. That meant fewer youngsters made up the tour squad than usual, so it was a statement to the impression Ngumoha and fellow youngster Nyoni had made that they were taken on the trip. Advertisement During the opening weeks and on tour, the pair have continued to impress the first-team coaching staff with their attitude and talent, and they have grasped their opportunity in matches. There is a sense that they could become permanent fixtures in the squad, which would allow other youngsters such as Tyler Morton and Ben Doak to move on without any concerns over the squad's depth in those areas. Ngumoha's potentially larger role this season is more than anyone could reasonably have expected even a month ago. He will still need to be managed carefully and expectations should remain realistic. But the problem is that Ngumoha is showing why he is one of the hottest prospects in European football. He may be impossible to ignore.
