Report: Thierry Henry Believes Mohamed Salah Can Replace Coutinho as Liverpool's Future Star
With Liverpool sitting on a £140m+ war chest after the gargantuan sale of Philippe Coutinho, talk has turned to who the Reds will sign in the Brazilian's place. Names such as Thomas Lemar and Riyad Mahrez have been rumoured to move to Anfield, but Thierry Henry believes Jurgen Klopp may already have such a player on his books.
Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of Manchester City's trip to Merseyside this weekend, the Frenchman revealed he does not think Liverpool need a like-for-like replacement, remarking:
"You still have Firmino, Salah, Mane - I mean, this is not a bad front three. You would obviously prefer to have that front with Coutinho as a No 10."
The Belgium assistant advocated for summer signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as a good option to have in Klopp's squad, with the Englishman impressing in his limited opportunities since his £35m switch from Arsenal.
"[Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain is there, [Adam] Lallana is back, but obviously you are going to miss Coutinho. The amount of goals he has scored from outside the box is just ridiculous. You have to move on though and Liverpool will always be Liverpool."
However, despite laying praise at the rest of the Fab Four, it was Mohamed Salah in particular who the former Arsenal man tipped to replace Barcelona-bound Coutinho, waxing lyrical about his clever running.
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"I said at the beginning of the season he can be the new Coutinho - obviously I did not know that Coutinho was going to leave." The playmaker completed his protracted move to the Camp Nou this week, signing a five-year deal with Ernesto Valverde's side.
"What I like about him is that he is not bothered about coming to get the ball. He is constantly running behind you, and as right back or a centre back, you do not want to run that way the whole game. And that is all he does." marveled Henry.
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The Egyptian has scored 23 times in just 29 appearances this season, contributing eight assists to boot. With 17 league goals this campaign, he sits second in the goalscoring charts, behind only Harry Kane.
Henry could barely stop gushing about Salah's stupendous first half of the season, noticing that he could actually have scored far more.
"It is actually scary as look at the actual amount of goals he scores, but also look at the amount of goals he missed - one versus one, not easy goals at the end of the day, because they are not easy."
"But goals you would like to think that if he starts to work on his calmness, pose, do what you have to do, he is going to destroy teams even more so than what he is doing right now because I think he missed more goals than he scored."
Henry ended by tipping the Reds to potentially be the team to overcome Manchester City on Sunday, with the runaway league leaders still unbeaten after 22 matches and seemingly invincible thus far.
Combining the pace of Salah with the added steel of £75m addition Virgil van Dijk, the Frenchman believes 'all the signs' are there that Jurgen Klopp's men could outwit the history-making Blues.
