I know Mohamed Salah has left Liverpool.
I know the club have moved on.
And I know Liverpool have brought in Bradley Barcola as part of their new attacking setup.
But watching Salah continue to produce elsewhere has left me asking one question:
Could he not have done another season at Liverpool?
Because honestly, I’m still not convinced Liverpool are a better team without him.
Salah is still producing
Salah has already made an impressive start to life in Turkey, with five goal contributions in his first four games.
That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise.
We know what Salah is capable of.
He spent years destroying Premier League defences, creating chances, scoring goals and producing moments that seemed impossible.
The argument was always going to be about whether Liverpool were getting the player at the right stage of his career.
Maybe the club decided it was better to move on before his level dropped.
But there is a difference between saying Salah would eventually decline and saying Liverpool were better off without him this season.
I’m not convinced by the second argument.
Liverpool could have used him
Just look at Liverpool’s squad now.
Barcola has arrived and looks an exciting player.
Cody Gakpo has started the season brilliantly.
Alexander Isak has already scored three times in the Premier League.
Florian Wirtz is capable of producing something special.
There are positives.
But Liverpool still don’t have a natural replacement for what Salah gave them from the right-hand side.
That was the problem I worried about before the season started.
And it remains the problem now.
Salah wasn’t simply a goalscorer.
He was a creator.
He stretched defences.
He occupied defenders.
He created space for other players.
And, most importantly, opponents knew exactly how dangerous he was.
You don’t replace that simply by buying another winger.
And this is where I have questions
I’ll say this carefully because it’s my opinion.
I believe Liverpool’s previous football leadership made the decision to move on from Salah too quickly.
Michael Edwards, Richard Hughes and Arne Slot were all part of the football structure around the period when Salah’s Liverpool future was being decided.
And from the outside, it felt like the club were ready to move into a new era.
Perhaps they believed it was the right time.
Perhaps they believed Salah’s best years were behind him.
Perhaps they wanted to completely reshape the attack.
But I keep coming back to the same thought:
Why couldn’t Salah have stayed for one more season?
Give the new manager another year with him.
Allow the younger players to develop around him.
Let Barcola arrive without necessarily having to replace one of the greatest players in Liverpool’s modern history.
Then reassess next summer.
The timing bothers me
What makes it even more frustrating is that Liverpool are now trying to find solutions to problems Salah used to solve.
The right side doesn’t have the same natural threat.
The team needs more creativity from that side.
And Alexander Isak needs service.
We’ve already seen how important quality delivery and creativity can be to Isak’s game.
Cody Gakpo supplied both of his goals against Ipswich, showing exactly what happens when Isak gets the right service.
But imagine having Salah available as well.
Salah creating for Isak.
That would have been some combination.
Barcola doesn’t change my opinion
I really like Barcola.
I think Liverpool have signed an incredibly exciting player and I believe he can become a huge star at Anfield.
But signing Barcola doesn’t automatically mean letting Salah go was the correct decision.
Both things can be true.
Liverpool can have a brilliant young winger and Salah could still have been incredibly useful.
In fact, I’d have loved to see Liverpool build a transition around both.
Salah could have played fewer minutes.
Barcola could have gradually taken on more responsibility.
Salah could have helped him adapt to English football.
And Liverpool would have had two outstanding options rather than trying to replace one with the other.
Did Liverpool leave Iraola with weaker options?
This is the part that really concerns me.
Andoni Iraola has inherited a Liverpool squad that has undergone enormous change.
He has to build his own team.
He has to establish his own tactical identity.
And he has to compete immediately.
Yet one of the greatest attacking players in Premier League history is no longer available to him.
That’s a huge loss.
Maybe Iraola would have eventually decided Salah didn’t fit his system.
Maybe he would have reduced his minutes.
Maybe Salah himself would have wanted to leave.
We simply don’t know.
But I would have liked the new manager to have the choice.
Instead, he inherited a squad without Salah.
I still think Liverpool would be better with him
This isn’t about refusing to accept change.
Liverpool had to move forward eventually.
Salah isn’t going to play forever.
But I’m talking about this season.
Right now.
With the squad Liverpool have.
With the challenges Iraola faces.
With the need for goals, creativity and experience.
I think Liverpool would be better with Mohamed Salah in the squad.
Maybe not for another five years.
Maybe not even for another two.
But for one more season?
Absolutely.
And I can’t stop thinking about what might have been
Salah is already producing in Turkey.
Liverpool are trying to replace his output.
And Iraola is trying to build a new Liverpool without one of the greatest players the club has ever had.
Maybe the club’s decision will eventually prove to be the correct one.
Maybe Barcola will become a superstar and we’ll all look back and understand why Liverpool chose to move on.
I genuinely hope that’s what happens.
But right now?
No one is convincing me Liverpool wouldn’t be better with Mohamed Salah in this squad.
For me, he could have done another season at Anfield.
And I still believe Liverpool’s previous football leadership — including Edwards, Hughes and Slot — made the decision to move on when perhaps they didn’t have to.
Now Iraola has to live with that decision.
And Liverpool have to prove they were right.
Jamie (The Kopite View)
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