Liverpool could have ‘big issues to solve’ regarding their famed front three, according to Simon Hughes on the Red Agenda podcast for The Athletic.
The Reds have enjoyed a successful period in recent years and much of that success can be put down to the goals of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah especially.
With Salah’s contract not due to expire until 2023, there is no rush to tie the Egyptian down just yet. However, when discussing the 28-year-old’s future, Hughes outlined the issues which need solving across the much-heralded trio. He said:
That’s the million-dollar question [Salah’s future]. It’s not just Salah. The whole question is related to the players around him.
I don’t think FSG can afford to plough on with the three of them for the next three years and them all reaching going past their peak at the same time.
Both Firmino’s and Mane’s current deals also expire at the end of the 2022/23 season and, aged 29 and 28 respectively now, the potential conundrum faced by the club stretches across the entire front three.
Hughes also stated that “the whole strategy of FSG is going to be tested” regarding the future of the trio, who collectively have plundered 39 goals this season.
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The ever-increasing elephant in the room is what happens next with Liverpool’s front three. Nobody wants any one of them to leave the club given what they have each produced individually and as a collective during their time on Merseyside.
However, the reality is that, at some time or another, Jurgen Klopp will have to evolve his squad as the trio may wish to seek pastures new going into their 30s.
Not allowing one of the stars to leave on the cheap will certainly be part of the mantra and may lead to an earlier-than-expected departure, as unpalatable as that might be.
Ultimately, during the owners’ reign at Anfield, Liverpool have almost always sold in order to buy, a policy which may again ring true moving forward when attempting to freshen up the Reds’ attack.
