Liverpool tipped to sign 'Mini Salah', pundit desperate for Tottenham to land £50m star instead

When finding the net during Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Newcastle United in midweek, Mo Salah scored for a seventh successive Premier League game for the second time in his Reds career.

Liverpool’s evergreen talisman is now only the third player in the competition’s 32-year history to achieve such a feet.

With his contract expiring next summer – and with Saudi Arabia and the MLS calling for Mo Salah – it has seldom been so apparent just how difficult Liverpool’s task will be when the day comes to replace the man who has arguably climbed above Steven Gerrard and Sir Kenny Dalglish in the pantheon of Anfield greats.

If reports are to be believed, it may be Brentford winger Bryan Mbeumo tasked with stepping into Salah’s sizeable shoes.

Yet, in a week in which Salah scored in a seventh straight league match, Mbeumo – in contrast – ended a seven-game goal drought as Newcastle made the trip down to London.

Liverpool tipped to sign Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo if Mo Salah leaves

Despite netting a highly-impressive nine in 15 Premier League starts this term, Bryan Mbeumo will find himself under pressure to emulate Salah’s staggering consistency on Merseyside should he end up inheriting that number 11 shirt under Arne Slot.

Though, at just 25, Mbeumo is at the same age Salah was when joining Liverpool in 2017.

As former Tottenham, Portsmouth and Wolves midfielder Jamie O’Hara told talkSPORT, following Brentford’s 4-2 victory over Eddie Howe’s team, the Frenchman ‘has a lot of football left in him’.

And while O’Hara is hoping to see Mbeumo follow in his Spurs footsteps – he would ‘snap your hand off’ to take him at Tottenham – co-host Jason Cundy can envisage few footballers better suited to taking Salah’s place.

“I think, when you look at what might happen at Liverpool with Salah, I’m looking at Mbeumo and what he’s capable of,” Cundy, the one-time Chelsea defender, argues. “He’s a little mini Salah off that right hand side, [cutting in onto] his left foot.

“He has got years [left at the top level]. He has got years.”

It is testament to Mbeumo – not to mention attacking partner Yoan Wissa and manager Thomas Frank – that Brentford now have the joint-most goals to their name than any Premier League team [31] despite the loss of star striker Ivan Toney over the summer.

“I’d much rather have Wissa and Mbeumo on my team [than anyone at Newcastle],” O’Hara adds, both finding the net against The Magpies on Saturday. “They’re unbelievable.

“If [Brentford finish] outside of Europe come the end of the season, Mbeumo and Wissa are going to be top property.”

Mo Salah yet to sign new contract at Liverpool

TBR understands that Tottenham, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester City and, yes, Liverpool all showed an interest in Mbeumo, valued at around £50 million, at the start of the summer.

Liverpool decided against making a move, however, after turning down that £150 million, Middle Eastern bid for Salah.

But with his future as uncertain as ever – TBR understands Salah and Liverpool owners FSG are at odds regarding the length of any new contract – the Egyptian King may be closer than ever to abdicating his Anfield throne.

“Honestly, it’s in my head,” Salah told reporters after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over the champions recently. “[Unless I sign a new deal] this is the last City game I will play for Liverpool [at Anfield], so I was just going to enjoy it.

“The atmosphere was incredible so I will enjoy every second here. Hopefully we just win the league and will see what will happen.”

TBR understands that, while Liverpool may need to replace Salah in 2025, Brentford are also leaving nothing for chance should Mbeumo depart.

Brentford are watching Celtic wideman Nicolas Kuhn amid a stunning season for the German in Scotland.