Many Liverpool fans will likely be hoping that Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak will be playing Premier League football in red next season, but it doesn’t look likely.
The Magpies are third in the standings with five games to play, two points ahead of sixth-place Aston Villa, who sit just outside the Champions League-qualifying zone.
Having beaten Arne Slot’s side in the Carabao Cup final and set to restore their place at Europe’s elite table, Newcastle hold all the cards, and they aren’t willing to sell, even listing Isak north of £150m.
FSG, quite rightly, won’t entertain such talk and are gearing up to turn their attention elsewhere
After all, Liverpool will bring in a new number nine this summer, with Darwin Nunez all but confirmed to have entered the final weeks of his Merseyside career.
Liverpool set to sell Darwin Nunez
It’s been clear for several months, Liverpool having rejected winter approaches from Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League due to the importance of keeping the title-challenging squad together.
Fabrizio Romano has now updated the situation, claiming that Liverpool’s plan is to sell their club-record signing, Nunez having scored just seven goals across 42 matches for Slot’s Reds.
Nunez has only started once in the Premier League since Boxing Day, scoring in a win over bottom club Southampton last month.
Having missed 53 big chances in the Premier League since his 2022 arrival, Nunez hasn’t responded to Klopp and Slot’s tactics and can’t shake the erraticness from his final play, thus consigning him to a bittersweet exit, leaving disappointed but with a winner’s medal around his neck.
Isak may well be out of reach, but Liverpool are open to looking elsewhere. Now, news has emerged that FSG are in for a somewhat left-field forward.
Liverpool lining up Nunez replacement
As per Caught Offside, Liverpool are interested in signing Brentford’s star man, Bryan Mbeumo, this summer.
In fact, the Champions Elect have received a boost in their pursuit, with Brentford – who are believed to be open to offers – willing to discuss Mbeumo’s sale for the right price this summer.
Mbeumo, 25, has been one of the Premier League’s standout forwards this season and is also being tracked by Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United
The Cameroon international supposedly has a £50m price tag, something that has caused Newcastle United to pull out of the race.
Why Liverpool should sign Bryan Mbeumo
Mbeumo has proved over a number of years his capacity for goals and success in the Premier League, having been involved in 68 goals across 131 divisional outings.
This year alone, the versatile forward has netted 18 goals and laid on six assists across 32 top-flight appearances, a haul bettered only by Salah, Isak, Erling Haaland and Chris Wood.
Though he’s principally a right-sided forward, Mbeumo has been known to play as the focal frontman and has done so to a prolific effect.
We’ve seen throughout the campaign Slot’s willingness to reshape typical widemen – like Luis Diaz – into central attackers, and who’s to say it hasn’t worked out? Liverpool are on the cusp of the title, after all.
Affectionately described as a “mini-Salah” by talkSPORT’s Jason Cundy, Mbeumo carries the air of a goalscoring forward who brings much more to the table.
As per FBref, Mbeumo ranks among the top 8% of positional peers in the Premier League this season for goals scored and the top 12% for crosses made per 90.
This takes a step toward underscoring Mbeumo’s dynamism, chiefly a goalscorer but also willing to hang wide and whip crisp deliveries in.
The 32-year-old Salah might be staying put for the next couple of years, but he won’t be around forever. The Bees forward could eventually take the veteran’s berth in the years to come.
But for now, he’s more than capable of taking Nunez’s place as Liverpool’s centre-forward, perhaps sharing the berth with Diaz and Diogo Jota.
Given that Mbeumo has only missed eight big chances in the Premier League this term, having scored a whopping 18 times, fans won’t need to worry about Nunez-esque profligacy to hinder Liverpool in their efforts to retain their expected title.
But like all great forwards, those capable of starring for a top-performing outfit such as Slot’s Liverpool, Mbeumo isn’t a one-trick pony either.
He’s averaged 1.8 key passes per top-flight fixture and has created 16 big chances. He might take his share of set-pieces, but this denotes a ranged approach to his play that very much aligns with the role Salah performs with such matchless aplomb.
Analyst Ben Mattinson has recently dubbed Mbeumo as “one of the most deadly players in transition in the Prem,” further evidence – if you needed it – that he’s perfect for this Reds team.
Slot arrived in the Premier League with a reputation for being more ball-focused than his Anfield predecessor, but title-surging Liverpool only rank third in those standings with a 58% average.
This is, of course, not counter-attacking football, but Slot commands one of the deadliest teams in world football when on the break, making that final statement on the myriad reasons behind why this would be a good deal to end Nunez’s frustrating stay and sign the perfect Salah heir at the same time.