According to sources, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has notified the club’s board of his one and only transfer request. He has already identified the person he believes would eventually replace Mo Salah in the starting lineup.
Klopp announced on Friday with emotion that he will step down as Liverpool manager at the end of the current season.
The revelation from Klopp, who is considered as one of the team’s most successful managers, having led them to four major European finals, Premier League, and Champions League crowns, has upset Liverpool and the football community around the world.
Mo Salah’s contract at Anfield expires in the summer of 2025, and with interest from Al-Ittihad still high, there is growing talk that this could be Salah’s final season on Merseyside.
The loss of the Egyptian would leave a massive vacuum in the Reds’ lineup. Salah, who joined the squad from Roma for £36.9 million in the summer of 2017, has scored an astonishing 204 goals in 332 games, making him one of the club’s best signings in a generation.
Takefusa Kubo has emerged as the team’s main candidate to succeed the Egyptian attacker, according to Teamtalk.
Real Sociedad’s Japanese winger has been in top form this season, with six goals and four assists in 21 La Liga and Champions League appearances. His club has advanced to the next round of the Champions League, where they will face PSG.
Although Kubo’s stats may not match Salah’s, sources in Spain say Klopp has told the Liverpool board that Kubo “is the most similar there is to Salah” among the wingers they are monitoring.
The 29-cap Japan international’s contract includes a modest €60 million (£51 million) release clause that the Reds could easily finance.
