‘It’s true’- Fabrizio Romano on Salah replacement rumours

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 9 Oct 2024 13:10 BST
• 8 min read

Fabrizio Romano has commented on speculation that Liverpool could look to sign either Mohammed Kudus or Karim Adeyemi should Mohamed Salah leave the club.

Salah, along with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk, make up a trio of stars who are out of contract at Anfield at the end of the season.

The 32-year-old has been linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League, and like his fellow teammates who are destined to become free agents, is able to open talks with foreign clubs about a pre-contract agreement as of January.

Compared

Karim Adeyemi

M, AM (L)

Dortmund

Karim Adeyemi

M, AM (L)

Dortmund

VS

Mohammed Kudus

AM (C), M (RL)

West Ham United

Mohammed Kudus

AM (C), M (RL)

West Ham United

€40.9M	ETV	€56.2M
€30.7M - €51.1M	ETV Range	€42.2M - €70.3M
22 years old (18 Jan, 2002)	Age	24 years old (02 Aug, 2000)
Germany	Nationality	Ghana

As such, there are numerous rumours linking Liverpool to wingers such as Adeyemi and Kudus, which Romano has now passed comment on.

“It’s true that they are watching several players, but I don’t have any concrete updates yet on specific targets, despite the links with Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi and West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus,” Romano wrote for the Daily Briefing.

“Juventus wanted Adeyemi last summer, but since that moment when Karim decided to stay at Dortmund, nothing concrete happened. We’ll see what happens in the future, but for now I think it’s too early to be talking about him and Liverpool.

“Similarly, with Kudus and Liverpool there is currently nothing concrete to report. There will be 100 links per day on Liverpool with Salah out of contract but Liverpool are not in discussions or planning any move yet, it’s just a moment where they explore the market and still talk to Salah about the contract. So nothing really concrete on Kudus now, it’s not an October/November topic for sure.”

Adeyemi before Kudus?

When it comes to playing style, Adeyemi is the better fit for Liverpool as he operates more as a wide playmaker than Kudus, who is very much a classic winger.

Indeed, signing the Ghanaian would represent a big departure for the Reds compared to Salah. The West Ham star bears little resemblance to Salah in terms of his playing style, with even Adeyemi rather different to the Egypt star, who is more of an inside forward than both.