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Liverpool can sign bargain Mohamed Salah successor after Tottenham's two transfer mistakes
Liverpool could sign Mohamed Salah's successor this summer.
Liverpool have been told they can strike a bargain reported £30million deal to sign Marcus Edwards from Sporting Lisbon in the summer. The Reds may capitalise on two errors made by Edwards’s former club Tottenham to land the winger.
Mohamed Salah’s potential departure from Anfield may leave Liverpool’s next manager searching for a left-footed forward. Ruben Amorim, the man considered the favourite to replace Jurgen Klopp, has overseen the development of Edwards at Sporting in recent years.
Edwards was one of Spurs’s top prospects and was even compared to Lionel Messi by former head coach Mauricio Pochettino. However, the former England U20 international lost his way after a disappointing loan spell at Norwich.
The 25-year-old never played a competitive game for the north Londoners and was sold to Portuguese side Vitoria de Guimaraes via a temporary stay at Dutch outfit Excelsior. Vitoria were able to seal Edwards’s arrival for a little over £1m - a miniscule fee for a player whose stock as a young player was so high.
Spurs retained a 50 per cent stake in Edwards’s economic rights, meaning they were due half of any transfer fee for which the player moved throughout his career. They subsequently received around £3m when Edwards joined Sporting from Vitoria in 2022.
However, as part of the deal for Pedro Porro to join the Premier League club from Sporting in January 2023, that figure was slashed to 35 per cent. Edwards is widely believed to have a release clause of around £50m, but Football.London report that Sporting could accept around £30m with the Primeira Liga leaders knowing they will owe less of any fee to Spurs.
Edwards, now 25, would be a top signing for Liverpool or any of their Premier League rivals. He has scored six goals and provided eight assists across all competitions this season, following a 2022-23 campaign in which he made 26 direct goal contributions.
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Liverpool are at risk of losing Salah in the summer, having fought desperately to keep him from the clutches of the Saudi Pro League 12 months ago. Come the end of the campaign, the Egyptian will have only 12 months remaining on his contract and will therefore harbour much more power over his future.
Al-Ittihad had world-record bids for Salah turned down by Liverpool. But the Reds might not have as much leverage during talks this summer.
Edwards could therefore be an excellent signing at £30m, especially if Amorim succeeds Klopp at Anfield.