Liverpool leading race to sign £76m “jewel”

Mohamed Salah. Three-time PFA Player of the Year.

His colleagues recognise his greatness, and the Egyptian forward is hungry to add more depth to his Liverpool legacy this season.

How to achieve such a thing? Well, after his extraordinary 2024/25 campaign, spearheading Arne Slot’s title charge and clinching 34 goals and 23 assists across all competitions, Salah has immortalised himself as one of the Premier League’s greats, now knocking on the door of the top three in the all-time scoring charts.

Having turned 33 in June, the forward is entering the autumn phase of his career; he’s lost a yard, and no mistake.

However, Salah’s intelligence and technical ability allow him to maintain an elite level, and he showed as such on the division’s opening night.

But, FSG might be wise to sign another forward before the closure of the market, adding an attacking partner with whom the £400k-per-week star can combine with.

Liverpool targeting another forward

Liverpool’s vested interest in Alexander Isak is no secret. To condense the sprawling, convoluted saga into something packageable: Isak wants Liverpool, Liverpool want Isak, Newcastle have doubled down on their negative response.

The Sweden striker, 25, is refusing to reintegrate into Eddie Howe’s side and feels promises have been broken, but the Magpies have failed to sign a centre-forward this summer, and so their stance is understandable, if regrettable for those of a Reds persuasion.

Liverpool have already seen an initial offer worth £110m knocked back in August, and will not advance again unless given encouragement from Tyneside.

With that in mind, sporting director Richard Hughes might want to turn to another earmarked option, lest Liverpool find themselves short over the coming year.

According to Brazilian journalist Jorge Nicola, as translated by Sport Witness, Liverpool are alongside Manchester City as the frontrunners in the race for Real Madrid star Rodrygo.

Man City are trying to sell Savinho to Tottenham Hotspur, and that would open the door to Rodrygo’s arrival at the Etihad Stadium. But Liverpool have a long-standing interest of their own, and they need depth up top after selling Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez.

The 24-year-old is expendable, but Los Blancos won’t let him go on the cheap, valuing their player at €90m (about £76m).

Why Rodrygo would benefit Mo Salah

Rodrygo sat on the bench as Real Madrid slenderly defeated Mallorca in their La Liga opener on Tuesday evening. He was unused as the Xabi Alonso era got up and running on Spanish soil.

The 2024/25 campaign was one of toil and frustration for the Brazilian forward, who blanked across his final 17 league matches and, in fact, scored just the six goals in La Liga all year.

Data via Sofascore reveals he missed only one big chance though, and when considering he scarcely played out on his favoured left flank, it’s clear that Rodrygo could prove a jackpot signing at Liverpool, combining with Salah on the wings and teeing up Hugo Ekitike in the centre.

Hailed as “the jewel in the crown” at Real Madrid by one analyst, Rodrygo is a dynamic and gifted player. To wit, he’s a deadly finisher on his day, but also a crisp passer with an underlying creativity that has proved effective across a range of attacking positions. His quality lends itself to multi-positionality.

But Salah isn’t going anywhere, not yet, and so Rodrygo would hope to play with regularity on the left, having scored six goals and supplied six assists from only 12 games in the role last year.

That potent output (from Rodrygo) would only advance in a wide partnership with a player like Salah, who created more big chances (27) than any other player in the Premier League last season.

Renowned as one of the deadliest finishers of his generation, Salah has long borne an all-encompassing skill set, but Father Time has hit his pace and athleticism, and he has now heaped even more of an emphasis on his playmaking.

How often have we seen Salah take a deft touch, cut back, gear up, whip in a fierce delivery? Now that Trent Alexander-Arnold plies his trade for Real Madrid, that task will be heightened, especially with a striker of real quality added to the fold in Ekitike.

Rodrygo’s pace and off-the-ball movement would see him thrive alongside Salah in such a situation.

As per FBref, the versatile forward ranks among the top 2% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe for pass completion, the top 14% for progressive carries and the top 20% foer shot-creating actions per 90, and that’s while playing the lion’s share of his football on the right, his unfavoured yet prinicipal area of attack.

Salah’s wish for a second Premier League title came true last season. He made it so. Now, it wouldn’t be unfair to posit that another Champions League title would be the jewel in his crown in 2026.

With Rodrygo, a master on Europe’s elite stage, alongside him, that vision might just be realised.

Whether Liverpool manage to pull this one off remains to be seen – Isak is surely still the top priority for the Anfield side – but if that door is slammed shut and locked in the coming days, don’t be surprised if Liverpool raise their intrigue in Rodrygo, giving Salah a new dance partner for his final few shows in a Red shirt.