Liverpool's Right-Side Riddle: The Case Against a Panic Salah Replacement

Bradley Barcola was supposed to be the statement signing of Liverpool’s new era. A Champions League winner, prised from Paris Saint-Germain for £123 million, arriving on Merseyside as the headline act of the last window.

There’s just one problem.

He prefers the left.

So do Cody Gakpo, Rio Ngumoha and Victor Munoz. Four of Liverpool’s brightest wide options, all naturally drawn to the same flank, all operating in the shadow of the 257-goal void Mohamed Salah has left behind.

Andoni Iraola has had to improvise.

A Left-Sided Squad Chasing a Right-Sided Legend

Salah’s departure didn’t just remove goals. It ripped out Liverpool’s reference point on the right. The automatic out-ball. The predictable starting position that still couldn’t be stopped.

Liverpool knew it. The market knew it. Names quickly surfaced.

• Yankuba Minteh at Brighton.
• Ismaila Sarr at Crystal Palace.

Both right-sided, both dangerous, both identified as potential heirs to the role that defined an era at Anfield. Bids went in. Talks were held. No deals.

Domestic rivals held their ground, Liverpool held their nerve.

Rather than roll down the list to options C, D or E, the club chose something unusual in a frantic market: restraint. They decided to live with the imbalance, trust what they already had, and revisit the issue in January.

For now, that’s the plan.

Murphy: “You Don’t Just Buy Someone to Fill a Gap”

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy sees logic in the approach. Speaking to GOAL, courtesy of Snabbare, he pointed to the failed moves for Minteh and Sarr as evidence that the club know exactly where the squad is light.

“I think there were a lot of rumours around trying to get Minteh and Sarr in, who are obviously more right-sided players, so they're obviously aware of it,” Murphy said.

Then came the key point.

“As a football club, there's something to be said for not buying somebody or getting somebody just to fill. If you've already got talented, intelligent footballers there, who can play that side – because I've seen Barcola play off the right, I think Gakpo's got the intelligence to do it, I think he'll score goals from there.”

Gakpo has already offered proof. Murphy referenced the Forest game, where the Dutchman produced “a great assist” from the right. The same pattern emerged at Bournemouth: Gakpo wide on the right, a burst down the touchline, a low ball into the box, Alexander Isak arriving to finish. Three points, created from the very channel Salah once owned.

“So they probably looked at what they already had when they couldn't get Sarr or Minteh,” Murphy added, “and thought, ‘you know what, let's not rush and get someone in who doesn't quite fit the criteria’. So I understand it.”

The message is clear: need doesn’t justify overpaying.

“You don't always get what you want in a window. You can't be held to ransom and pay over the odds for players just because you desperately need them, because they've spent a lot of money.

“So in an ideal world you'd want a more orthodox right-sided player, I agree with that, but ultimately do I think they've got enough for now in Munoz, who's shown glimpses on that side, and Gakpo can play that side and even Barcola? I think they've got enough.”

Unbeaten, Unorthodox – and in No Rush

Results back up the patience. Liverpool remain unbeaten across Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup action in the 2026-27 season. The front line may look lopsided on paper, but on the pitch it has been fluid, unpredictable, and effective.

Gakpo, Ngumoha, Munoz and Barcola have all taken turns on the right. None is a like-for-like Salah clone. All bring something different. Iraola is leaning into that, rotating roles, shifting starting positions, asking his forwards to solve problems on the move.

The pressure to unveil a “new Salah” will return. It always was going to. Interest in Minteh and Sarr is expected to resurface, whether in early 2027 or next summer, and both players are understood to be open to an Anfield move.

But right now, with Liverpool unbeaten and the attack still finding ways to decide games from that supposedly awkward right flank, the urgency has eased.

The question is no longer just who replaces Salah.

It’s whether anyone needs to, if this improvised, left-heavy, shape-shifting forward line keeps winning.