Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo and Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo are among the players being scouted by Liverpool as they assess future targets that could play for Arne Slot.
Under the new stewardship of Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s recruitment group are working hard on assessing future talent, especially in areas of the team that may need replacements within the next 12 months.
Mohamed Salah is currently one of three top stars out of contract at the end of the season along with Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold – and, although there is no definitive indication on any of their futures yet, Liverpool are doing the prudent thing and planning for varying outcomes.
That may see a need to sign a new forward player and Semenyo is known to Hughes having signed him for Bournemouth from Bristol City in 2023.
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Liverpool boss Arne Slot says contract negotiations are ongoing with Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah but believes it will only become a problem if they stop performing on the pitch
The 24-year-old has improved significantly on the south coast, especially since the arrival of Andoni Iraola as head coach, scoring five times in his last 14 appearances in the Premier League last season, and he has continued in that vein this season with three goals in nine.
Mbuemo, 25, has been even more prolific with eight Premier League goals in nine, and he is understood to have been monitored by Liverpool for some time. Both players’ profiles provide similarities to Salah, particularly their ability to be dangerous anywhere across the front positions.
Sky Germany have reported Stuttgart’s 25-year-old Egypt forward Oumar Marmoush is another player being looked at by Liverpool – but sources on Merseyside have refuted that he is of any interest to the club at this time.
Antoine Semenyo has had 31 shots this season and scored three goals
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Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo solves your dilemmas in The Playbook!
Head coach Slot once again gave nothing away on Friday when asked for an update on the contract situations surrounding Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk, stating that talks between the club and the trio are “ongoing”.
“For me the contract situation could become a problem if the players don’t perform as well as they do at the moment,” Slot said. “Of course, it’s not sure that, if they perform not as good anymore, it has anything to do with their contract situation.
“At the moment all three of them are in a good place, all of them perform really, really, really well and there are ongoing discussions, as Virgil said, with the people he has to talk with, and that’s not me as you know. I talk with him to him about other things.
“Let’s wait and see but all what he said is completely right in that he doesn’t exactly know what the future will be as long as he doesn’t sign the contract yet.”