The sensational £50m Liverpool swap transfer that could help them forget all about Mohamed Salah

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A new transfer story from Spain suggests that Liverpool may be set for a £50m swap deal involving Federico Chiesa.

Liverpool have been relatively quiet over the first few weeks of the January transfer window, and the main focus has been on the contract situation of Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk, all of whom could leave as free agents come the summer – but a new story from Spain suggests that they don’t plan to go without at least one new signing.

El Nacional has rekindled a long-standing rumour which suggests that the Reds are interested in Real Sociedad winger Takefusa Kubo, but adds a new twist – they claim that Liverpool will sweeten a deal for the Japan international by throwing in summer signing Federico Chiesa, whose attempt to kick-start a career at Anfield has been derailed by injuries.

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Kubo has a release clause of €60m (£50m) but the report suggests that Liverpool will instead offer Sociedad €50m (£42m) plus the Italian forward, who has managed just one start for the Reds since signing from Juventus for a reported £10m. But is Kubo good enough to fill the void that Salah could leave behind should he leave? And does it make sense to cut ties with Chiesa already?

Could Kubo replace Salah?

At 23, Kubo is around a decade younger than Salah and plays the same position in a broadly similar style – so if Liverpool do make a move for him, the assumption must be that he is intended to serve as competition for the Egyptian in the short term and as a potential replacement for him should he depart at the end of the campaign. The question is whether he’s up to the task of taking at least some of Salah’s minutes or of making up for his departure.

Kubo has yet to hit the same sort of heights as Salah in terms of end product. Over the course of the 2023/24 campaign he managed a thoroughly respectable seven goals and five assists for Sociedad, which is more than Salah scored for Fiorentina at the same age, but he has yet to demonstrate the same cutting edge in the penalty area, and has had a relatively disappointing season so far in Spain, although that had been true for his team as a whole prior to a recent uptick in form.

But finding another Salah may prove impossible, and there are elements of Kubo’s game which compare well to a player who is among the Premier League’s greats – his technique is impeccable, he is actually more effective at beating opposing defenders one-on-one and while he doesn’t score as many (and only takes half as many shots) he does create a very similar number of shooting chances for his team-mates.

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Kubo has a fundamentally similar way of approaching the game and looks to carry the ball into the box in the same style, but the key difference is a tendency to pass rather than shoot and less capacity to attack dangerous open spaces. The fundamental talent is there, however, if he gets the right coaching.

Expecting Kubo to replace Salah and have the same impact would be wishful thinking, but there are few players on the planet who are as dangerous in the final third, and most of those who could directly replicate his output would be far, far more expensive if they were available at all. Kubo should, at least, be a clean tactical fit for Arne Slot, a square peg to slide straight into Salah’s square hole. But replacing Salah simply may not be possible if he does decide to leave.

Is it time to sell Chiesa?

The other half of the equation allegedly on the table is whether to sell Federico Chiesa, whose persistent fitness issues have endured since making the move to Merseyside. A career which peaked ahead of Italy’s Euro 2020 win is now in danger of permanent decline as the injuries mount, and he has had no chance to demonstrate whether he can still make use of the quick feet and dangerous finishing that he exhibited a few years ago.

Chiesa is only 27 and signed a four-year contract when he arrived in the summer, so if Liverpool are minded to be patient then there is still time to see whether he can get back to his healthiest and best, but if Kubo were to be signed then it becomes difficult to see where his minutes would come from, especially if Salah stayed – and if Liverpool’s physios don’t see light at the end of the tunnel, cutting losses may be the sensible move.

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A story claiming that he could be sent to Sociedad as a replacement doesn’t entirely ring true, however, at least not in the January transfer window. Sociedad have picked up some steam and have a very good chance of qualifying for continental competition again, so the chances that they would sell a regular starter (or part-exchange them for a player who may not be able to play regularly) seem slim. If Liverpool want to make this deal by the end of the window, they would surely have to meet his release clause straight up.

Chiesa also finally made his way back to the squad for the midweek Champions League win over Lille, which hints at a gradual return to fitness. Liverpool seldom display hair-trigger reflexes when it comes to keeping or selling players who haven’t got off to the ideal start, and they may well want to see how he pans out over the next six months before they give up.

But even if the rumour proves to be entirely false, it’s interesting to see Kubo’s name come round again – and if Liverpool are interested it does imply concern over Chiesa’s future, the chances that Salah will stay or, far worse, both. At least Kubo would be a lively and elegant consolation prize if he ends up being the only one left to man the right flank by the start of next season.

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