Liverpool launch bid for ‘IDEAL’ Salah successor
Robin Bairner
- 29 Sept 2023 08:35 BST
- 4 min read
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is set to return to Borussia Dortmund to search for a successor to Mohamed Salah, with reports in Germany indicating that Donyell Malen is being targeted by the Anfield side.
Salah was heavily linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League in the summer, with the indication that a new world transfer record could be set in deal that would have been game changing.
The 31-year-old remains at Liverpool, but the Saudi interest is liable to remain and with the attacker out of contract in 2025, a transfer will become even more possible in a year.
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Klopp is seeking a succession plan and Bild reports that his “ideal” option to support Salah is Dortmund attacker Malen.
The winger has scored three times in five Bundesliga appearances this season and is starting to show the type of form that made BVB pay PSV €30 million for him in 2021 to sign him as their replacement for Jadon Sancho when he departed for Manchester United.
Malen had been labelled a flop after his first season in the Bundesliga, when he scored only five goals, while there was an improvement last term as he bagged nine. Already this season he is on course to beat that tally.
Klopp, the German source says, has long been an admirer of the 24-year-old, who is most known for high lightning pace. Indeed, he followed the Netherlands international, who also spent time in Arsenal’s Hale End academy, closely while he was still with PSV.
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How much would Malen cost?
A deal will see Liverpool forced to pay over the market value for the player.
Malen has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €29.5 million according to FootballTransfers’ in-house algorithm, but Dortmund are set to ask for something in the region of €60m before they open negotiations over a transfer.
