Former Reds Midfielder Claims Liverpool Already Have Philippe Coutinho Replacement

Former Liverpool midfielder David Thompson has suggested that his old club already have Philippe Coutinho's replacement in summer signing Mohamed Salah.

The player turned pundit, sent some Liverpool fans into overdrive on Sunday as he appeared to suggest on his Twitter account that he had some inside information on the club's transfer dealings.

The midfielder, who came through Liverpool's academy, and played 48 times in the Premier League for his boyhood club wrote: "I think we have already signed coutinhos replscement by the looks of it (sp)".

Fans rushed to question the pundit on what he knew, asking if Liverpool were on the verge of signing Naby Keita, Jean Seri, or even Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

However, it turned out that Thompson's tweet was somewhat misleading, with the 39-year-old former Blackburn and Coventry City star claiming that Salah was in fact the replacement he was talking about.

Salah scored one and won the penalty in Liverpool's 3-3 draw with Watford on Saturday and looked perfectly suited to Liverpool's style of play following his club-record move from Roma.

The Egyptian was also in goalscoring form in pre-season, as he scored three goals in five friendly fixtures - all of which made Liverpool fans, including Thompson, excited about the new season.

However fans of the Anfield side would've been hoping for news of a new signing, that could directly fill the central midfield void that will be left by Coutinho, should he leave for Barcelona.

Coutinho reportedly handed in a transfer request last week in order to push through a dream move to Barcelona, despite wanting any departure to be amicable.

Jurgen Klopp will have further sparked rumours of a Coutinho departure, after he left the Brazilian out of the travelling squad to face Hoffenheim in Liverpool's first Champions League qualifying leg.