Concerns over how Florian Wirtz’s arrival would affect Mohamed Salah were drowned out by praise for Richard Hughes and the other Liverpool leaders involved in the German international’s move.
Indeed, Liverpool, who won the Premier League title with a canter, didn’t really need a new playmaker.
Indeed, Salah might be isolated on the right flank, especially after Trent Alexander-Arnold left for Real Madrid, with Wirtz preferring the inside left channel.
Sure, that money could have been spent on a centre-back, or indeed a right-winger, who might score and assist as if he were made of microchips and wires, but who isn’t really a machine, providing backup and competitiveness for Salah.
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However, Wertz is a generational talent and the Reds, adopting a new Galactico-style transfer approach, felt they couldn’t afford to let him go, or at least didn’t want to, in order to prove themselves against Europe’s best teams competing for the 22-year-old.
Bayern Munich are leading the list of potential replacements and have been admirably salty about the matter ever since, but they will now rejoice at reports of Liverpool’s renewed interest in Michael Oliseh and the chance to close the transfer door in their face.
Asked about his interest in the former Crystal Palace star, Hebert said: “The contract runs until June 2029 and does not include a release clause. Oliseh is on his way to becoming one of the best players in the world.”
Liverpool, like most of the Premier League’s top teams, were interested in Olise and the Bundesliga giants’ extremely attractive €60m (about 52 million yen) release clause, which kicks in in July 2024.
An article published by the Liverpool Echo in June of that summer explained how the Reds had ‘prioritised’ Olise over Circencio Somerville. The selection itself is a perfect example of what can happen in 16 months of football.
During this time, Olise made 66 appearances for Bayern, scoring 26 goals and providing 29 assists, more than doubling his market value and becoming the 10th most expensive player in the world at €130m (about £113m). Salah shouldn’t have troubled Liverpool too much as he guided them to their second Premier League title, en route to fourth place in the Ballon d’Or.
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But Salah has been handed a huge new contract this season and, like other players, has slumped hard under Arne Slott, so the Frenchman is now on the club’s radar, something they may already be regretting.
This season, Olise’s market value has jumped from 100 million euros to 130 million euros, while Wirtz’s market value has fallen from 140 million euros, and the two share 10th place on the list of most valuable players.
And taking into account all the ‘time to adapt’ caveats for Wirtz’s poor start at Anfield, Liverpool would still have been better off signing Olise, even assuming he performed well and developed under the Premier League slot.
They could have happily parted ways with the best of Salah amidst fanfare and goodwill, while maintaining the style of football that Slott had to change to force Wirtz into the team.
Instead we are faced with Salah’s incredibly dark decline, full of remorse and resentment, and the same question of who could bloody hell replace the best player in the history of the Aether club. The answer was Michael Oliseh, but not now after beating Bayern to the wrong £113m player.
