Which right wingers should Liverpool target after Salah’s departure?

Dream signing: Michael Olise

Michael Olise has been insanely good this season, so much so that he can stake a claim to being one of the best players around solely on form. He has 16 goals and 23 assists across all competitions, including 3+5 in nine Champions League outings. While it’s easy to beat down Bundesliga defences as a Bayern Munich attacker, numbers like these are still ridiculous:

That alone should build a strong case for why Liverpool should go all-in for him, but equally, it also shows why Bayern shouldn’t let him go at any cost. Indeed, the German champions have already been dismissing links, and they hold all the cards since his contract runs till 2029 and reportedly does not include a release clause. So, even though he would be an ideal signing for Liverpool given his quality and previous Premier League experience, he seems unattainable at the moment – especially considering their massive spending spree last summer.

Nevertheless, studying Olise is worthwhile as he can serve as a useful benchmark for Liverpool to assess other targets. While they are unlikely to find anyone putting up such mind-blowing numbers at such a high level, the French winger’s profile seems to be the right fit for what the Reds need at the moment.

Especially if they intend to deploy Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak together going forward, Liverpool will need their right winger to be an elite ball-to-feet creator. A high-volume dribbler with great output has to be the key criterion, given the left-sided bias built into the attack. Comfort in the half-space would also be a big plus, particularly if they intend to start Jeremie Frimpong more regularly. While the search for a new right winger will naturally be billed as a Mohamed Salah successor, a like-for-like replacement wouldn’t be the best match for this squad (unless you want to end up replicating many of the issues they’ve faced this season), so goal-threat need not be weighted too highly.

Proven quality: Yankuba Minteh

Here at The Transfer Flow, we’re big believers in Yankuba Minteh. When Newcastle were shopping him around for PSR reasons almost two years ago, Ted already labelled him a future star. Ahead of this season, I picked him out as my player to watch in the Premier League preview podcast episode.

My prediction of 15-20 goal involvements hasn’t come to pass as the Gambian winger’s form has been streaky this season, and he’s also dealt with a minor injury issue and been benched a fair bit in recent weeks. Even so, there are some encouraging signs in his underlying numbers as he has maintained his elite dribbling and carrying quality while stepping up his chance creation, though his shooting has fallen off considerably from last season.

Minteh’s high-speed dribbling, long-distance carrying on the wing and ability to go both ways have made him a serious threat to Premier League defences when he’s on his A game. He has thus managed to get into the box a great deal, averaging 7.45 touches in the penalty area per 90 in the league this season. Thus, the Brighton winger’s dribbling has been the key to his creative output, but I think he has the potential to take things up a notch.

Minteh’s willingness to go down the line when taking a defender on greatly boosts his dribbling effectiveness, but his output from subsequent positions leaves a good deal to be desired. He’s able to roll decent cut-backs with his right foot, but improved crossing and an ability to flash the ball across the six-yard box would make him a great deal more threatening.

Improving his right foot would also increase the Gambian winger’s goal-threat, as he often makes very good runs to crash the far post area at the right time but lacks the confidence to take shots on with his weaker foot. He has only attempted two shots with his right this term — both from very tight angles.

A bonus that Minteh offers is his defensive work rate, as he can play an active part in a press and support his teammates deep. Fabian Hürzeler has even tasked him with dropping into a back five in certain games this term, from where his carrying can make him a great outlet. Salah’s lack of defensive application was a big issue for Arne Slot this season, but the Gambian winger would be quite the opposite.

At just 21 years old, Minteh has a very impressive CV for his age. Back-to-back seasons as a noteworthy threat in the Premier League mean that he has already demonstrated a solid floor for Liverpool to bank on, while his ceiling could well be very high. He also has history with Slot from his loan spell at Feyenoord. The benefit of his relatively low-key season is that competition for his signature might not be too intense, so a relatively reasonable fee within eight digits could well be agreed upon.

Supertalent: Yan Diomande

Going back to the Bundesliga, unquestionably the biggest breakout talent in the league (and perhaps even across the big five leagues) this season has been Yan Diomande. The Ivorian winger has 10 league goals and six assists to his name after a €20 million move from Leganés to Leipzig last summer.

Diomande was subject to the MoeSquare treatment back in December, but his stock has gone up further in my eyes since then owing to his sustained excellence in Germany as well as impressive performances at the Africa Cup of Nations. Dribbling also forms the core of his skillset, but he has crucially produced great output to back it up.

While both are speedy dribblers, Diomande differs from Minteh in many ways when zooming in on the technical aspects of their work. The most obvious divergence is in their footedness, though that doesn’t prevent the Ivorian from being effective on either flank. While the Gambian dazzles with his footwork at high speed, Diomande’s sudden speed changes to manipulate defenders and open up new angles are what make him so effective. At the same time, he has great ball control to thread the needle through tight spaces, often taking on and beating multiple opponents at once.

With 4.18 take-ons completed per 90 at a 58% success rate, the ex-Leganés forward is nothing short of an electric dribbler. He too is able to go both ways, but seems to prefer driving inside against settled blocks from either wing. He tends to pose a greater threat in transition on the right, with high-speed long-distance carrying down the wing enabling him to use his preferred right foot to deal damage in open situations.

Much like Minteh, Diomande’s chance creation predominantly stems from his ability to break into the box. So, he too can take things up a notch with improved crossing on both feet, as well as passing from more central angles.

Diomande has overperformed on his xG a great deal and can lack control on his shots at times, but the fact that the majority of his goals have been scored by his weaker left foot is an encouraging sign in terms of shot-taking confidence, at least.

The tape I’ve seen of Diomande has been more than enough to convince me that the physical difference between the Bundesliga and Premier League won’t limit his threat a great deal, so the main concern is the reported nine-digit price tag RB Leipzig have placed. The energy drink merchants are known to drive a hard bargain, and given the mixed success Liverpool’s three big-money signings from last summer have had, they might be reluctant to go so big on a youngster with just one full season at the senior level under his belt.

Other options

A few other names have also been floated by analysts and rumour-spreaders alike. Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly looking to shed a winger this summer, but I think Bradley Barcola is an obvious no-go given limited game time on the right in the French capital. Désiré Doué has played on that side quite a bit, but he’s not as much of a pure 1v1 dribbler as one might like for this role. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has the necessary flair and can play on both sides, though he too is more effective from the left.

A much more like-for-like Salah replacement would be Jarrod Bowen. At 29 years old, this move would only make sense if the contract is very sensible and the fee is low due to relegation for West Ham, though there likely will be a good deal of competition in such a case. I wouldn’t be opposed to such a move for the right numbers on a short-term deal as he can offer a solid option to support a young talent for a couple of years, but I imagine such a deal would be hard to strike with a player looking for his last big paycheck before the twilight of his career.

Others like Francisco Conceição or Takefusa Kubo could also be brought in for such a rotation role and are closer profile matches to what Liverpool need. However, there are big concerns to be raised about their physicality in the transition to the Premier League, so they won’t be sure bets.

Given the fact that Jeremie Frimpong can fill in on the right wing if needed and different setups like a narrower attack in a 4-2-2-2 are also realistic options, I think the sensible move for Liverpool would be to go for someone like Minteh or Diomande and then turn their attention to other areas of the squad like the back line. They can perhaps decide whether they need a lower-cost alternative later in the window, but the priority should be to get a preferred signing over the line quickly.

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