Barcelona linked with world class forward in potential blockbuster move

Mohamed Salah is rumoured to be a potential alternative for Antoine Griezmann.

According to AS, the Egyptian forward has been offered to the club by his representatives. Barcelona’s pursuit of Antoine Griezmann appears to have stalled as the player is uncertain of what he wants to do. Therefore, Barcelona have to start planning for alternatives with Salah’s representatives reportedly taking advantage of that.

Salah has had a phenomenal individual season even if Liverpool didn’t win any silverware. His 44 goals in all competitions took the club to the Champions League Final as well as fourth place in the Premier League. He was unable to displace Lionel Messi for the European Golden Boot, though. However, the crowning moment of the season ended in disappointment for the 25-year-old as a tussle with Sergio Ramos ended with him going off injured.

Liverpool will be desperate to hold on to him because he has taken their attacking play to another level through his clinical finishing. He acts as the main goalscoring threat from the right side of the forward line with Roberto Firmino’s selflessness and work rate helping significantly.

Jurgen Klopp’s system brings the best out of players, but his absence will be sorely missed; he might have to make tactical tweaks as well. They won’t let him got for cheap, though. Salah is likely to cost more than the 100 million euros release clause for Antoine Griezmann. He is valued at £135 million on TransferMarkt.

Would he be a good fit?

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This move makes less sense than Griezmann even if he is a lethal goalscorer. The issue for Barcelona isn’t goalscoring because they have Messi and Luis Suarez. Barcelona’s problems are the lack of a deep-lying playmaker and the need for a player to link up midfield with the rest of the forwards. Philippe Coutinho could take Andres Iniesta’s role, but he is better further forward. Griezmann would take some of the responsibility from Messi in the final third through his creativity and goalscoring threat.

Salah’s arrival would also mean that Messi and Suarez wouldn’t be able to be in the starting XI with him if they played in a 4-3-3. The Egyptian occupies the same position as Messi, although they have completely different roles. Therefore, the Argentine would have to play as a ‘false 9’ with him on the pitch. Suarez has shown that he doesn’t work well as a wide forward, so there is no space for him with these personnel. Coutinho or Ousmane Dembele could take the left-wing role.

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Therefore, Griezmann should stay as the main target because he is a much better fit. If that fails then the money required for Salah would be better spent on Christian Eriksen who would be a good option to replace Iniesta. They also should be seriously considering a move for Thiago or Miralem Pjanic. Salah would be a blockbuster move, but it isn’t what they need right now.

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