Talk of Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool exit has ramped up in recent months, in light of his outburst in December, and Emile Heskey has several players he’d like to see replace the Egyptian
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been a huge hit at PSG
Former Liverpool star Emile Heskey has earmarked replacements for Mohamed Salah and says PSG ace Khvicha Kvaratskhelia “would be my go-to”.
The Egyptian signed a two-year deal to remain at Anfield in the summer, but he’s now into his 30s and this season has been the first sign of a decline. His outburst mid-season saw speculation mount that this could prove to be his final season in the Premier League.
Salah has been prolific at Liverpool and is now regarded among their greatest ever players, but the club will have to look to replace him sooner rather than later. His contributions this season have been mild in comparison to what has gone before, but he would still leave a huge void.
Kvaratskhelia has been a massive hit in Paris, helping them win the Champions League last season, but only moved from Napoli midway just over a year ago. Heskey sees him as the ideal replacement – with West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen also on his wishlist.
He told OLBG: “We’re talking about replacing Mohamed Salah and I think as fans you’ve got to look at something different because you can’t replace Mo Salah. I remember one season I was speaking to someone who said Mo’s had a bad season. He’d scored 25 goals! I’d love to have had that bad of a season. We’re talking about someone scoring 20 plus, nearly 30 goals a season for 10 years.
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“I don’t think you can replace Mo Salah but I do like the lad from PSG, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. He would be my go-to. Would Jarrod Bowen be a downgrade from Mohamed Salah? I think most players are a downgrade compared to Salah but to be honest with you Bowen is a different type of player and he would probably help the formation because he’s going to work a little bit harder than Mo.”
Heskey has also cited Christian Pulisic as a potential target, despite him failing to deliver consistently at Chelsea. He enjoyed impressive moments, but the Blues were willing to move him on and he’s now on the books at AC Milan. The ex-Red believes Pulisic would be determined to prove he can cut it in England.
“I actually quite like Christian Pulisic,” said Heskey. “He is very direct. He probably didn’t get as many goals as I would have liked him to get at Chelsea but I thought he gave defences problems. Obviously after a good World Cup, being at home with the pressure on him, he is definitely someone who could offer something different to Mohamed Salah or even Cody Gakpo right now.
“Mo left Chelsea to go to Italy and look at what he’s done for Liverpool. I think it’d be great to see someone like Pulisic come back into the Premier League in the same way. I’m guessing he would love to show that his time at Chelsea was just a little blip. He was only a young lad when he came over.”
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