Jamie Carragher Warns Liverpool: Focus on Replacing Mohamed Salah

Jamie Carragher has warned Liverpool that the summer’s big question is not Bradley Barcola, but Mohamed Salah.

With Salah gone after a glittering nine-year spell on the right of Liverpool’s attack, the former defender believes the club are in danger of chasing the wrong problem if they press ahead with a blockbuster move for Paris Saint-Germain’s French winger.

“Barcola is a left winger”

Liverpool are preparing their first offer for Barcola, with PSG valuing the 21‑year‑old at around €150 million, according to reports. The France international, though, does his best work cutting in from the left – the one area of the frontline where Liverpool already look well stocked.

“He is a wonderful player, there is no doubt about that, and I would love to see Barcola at Liverpool,” Carragher told Sky Sports. “But for me he is a left winger.”

That is the crux of his concern. While Salah owned the right flank for almost a decade, the left currently belongs to a crowded group: Cody Gakpo, highly rated teenager Rio Ngumoha and new signing Victor Muñoz all operate there.

Digging into the balance of the squad, Carragher pointed out that Liverpool “probably have at least four” players who can “play on the left side quite comfortably” even before Barcola arrives.

The right? That is another story.

Salah’s shadow over the right flank

For Carragher, the “urgent need” is obvious.

“The main thing that stands out as an urgent need for Liverpool right now is replacing Salah, who was playing as a right winger,” he said. “And I do not think Liverpool have any player in the squad who feels completely comfortable playing in the right wing position.”

That vacancy shapes his entire view of the Barcola pursuit. A marquee signing who duplicates what Liverpool already have on the left, without solving the glaring hole on the right, feels like a luxury before a necessity.

“But at the moment, I felt that this summer should be dedicated to replacing Salah,” Carragher insisted, “and Barcola does not make up for Mo’s departure.”

The Ngumoha question

Any move for Barcola also runs into another issue: the pathway of Rio Ngumoha.

The 17‑year‑old scored in the recent friendly win over Wrexham and is widely seen as one of the brightest prospects at the club. Carragher made it clear that his development should not be an afterthought.

“Rio is a young lad, and he is really excellent, and I think he will keep developing from what he showed last season,” he said. But the Barcola deal complicates that picture. “You are buying a very young player for a large sum of money in Barcola, and he is currently better than Rio Ngumoha.”

That is the tension. Pay a huge fee for a left winger now, and you risk squeezing the minutes of a homegrown talent whose next step must be regular football.

“You expect in the end, over the next year or two, that Rio will want to play week in, week out with Liverpool,” Carragher added. “And it is up to him to prove that.”

There has been talk of Ngumoha switching to the right to pick up minutes, a tactical tweak Carragher can see the logic in for a teenager learning his trade.

“As a young player it is a good thing to play on both sides,” he said, though he still views Ngumoha’s “current position” as the left wing.

The ideal scenario – and the risk

Carragher is not against Barcola. Far from it. In his eyes, the Frenchman could be part of an outstanding refresh of Liverpool’s wide options – but only if the club get the order of business right and make tough calls on departures.

“If you asked me, do I want Barcola to arrive along with Liverpool signing a right winger too? I would be very happy because players would have to leave, and that is of course a natural thing,” he said.

His ideal? A new specialist for the right, Barcola added on the left, and two current wide players moved on to clear space and wages.

“If they go out and bring in a player for the right wing position, and sign Barcola, then sell two of the wide players currently in the team,” Carragher concluded, “then I think that would be a wonderful thing.”

Liverpool’s recruitment team now stand at a fork in the road: replace Salah’s goals and presence on the right first, or plunge into a €150 million move for another left-sided star and trust the rest to fall into place.