Liverpool's Salah Succession Plan: Michael Owen's Ideal Replacement

Liverpool are bracing for life without Mohamed Salah, and Michael Owen believes the answer to their biggest problem may be hiding in plain sight at the London Stadium.

Speaking on talkSPORT Breakfast, the former Ballon d'Or winner nailed his colours to one mast: West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen.

“How did you know? I told a couple of my mates yesterday that he’s the one player I would sign,” Owen said, revealing just how strongly he feels about the 29-year-old. West Ham “adore the man”, he added, and with good reason. But if the Hammers slide through the trapdoor, Owen is convinced Bowen should walk straight through the doors at Anfield.

For Owen, this isn’t a casual endorsement. It’s conviction.

He sees Bowen as the standout candidate to step into Salah’s role on the right, a specialist wide forward with the work-rate, versatility and cutting edge to thrive under Arne Slot next season.

“I think he’s absolutely brilliant,” Owen continued. He recalled working closely with Bowen last season on a striker masterclass for a TV show and came away stunned by the range of his game: two-footed, set-piece delivery, pace, and, crucially, ruthless finishing.

“He’s a brilliant player who I would take to the World Cup. I don’t want to upset West Ham fans but if they go down, he would be my ideal choice to replace Salah.”

That last line cuts to the heart of Liverpool’s dilemma.

Slot inherits a squad that has already absorbed a huge outlay of around £446 million last summer. The club recouped plenty, but the balance sheet still matters. This is not a window where Liverpool can simply throw money at every problem, yet they are staring at the loss of a generational right-sided forward for nothing.

Owen’s assessment of the rebuild is blunt. The squad needs “only a little bit of surgery”, he argues, but the first operation is non-negotiable: replacing Salah.

And that is where the issue sharpens. Liverpool have options almost everywhere except where Salah plays.

“There’s no one in the team currently who is like Salah, a right-sided attacker,” Owen said. Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz offer quality in advanced areas but prefer different zones. Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike bring alternative profiles but are dealing with injuries. Rio Ngumoha is pushing to break through, but he is still emerging, not yet a guaranteed starter on the biggest nights.

There is depth. There is talent. There is no like-for-like menace on that right flank.

Bowen, in Owen’s eyes, ticks those boxes: a natural right-sider, direct, relentless, with the numbers and maturity to carry responsibility. Yet prising him out of West Ham will not be simple.

If West Ham stay up, they hold the stronger hand. Bowen is captain, adored, central to everything they do. Liverpool’s financial reality adds another layer of difficulty. With Salah leaving for free, there is no windfall to roll straight into a marquee replacement. Any move for Bowen would have to echo the smarter, more surgical deals of the past – the kind that brought Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino to Anfield before they became global stars.

Former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant has his own concerns about the budget Slot will be given. He doesn’t see a “massive” pot of money arriving to fund a sweeping overhaul. Instead, he points to internal boosts: two defenders returning from injury and the comeback of Conor Bradley, who impressed before his own setback.

That, Pennant suggests, is a blessing. But it doesn’t solve everything.

“We’ve got to give them money because the same Slot system is not going to work,” he warned, arguing that with this group of players, a tweak back towards the “old Liverpool way” could extract more intensity, better performances and stronger results.

The message from both former players converges on one theme: Liverpool cannot stand still. Slot may not get a lavish war chest, yet he still has to find an answer to the most daunting question of his first summer.

How do you replace Salah’s shadow on that right wing – and is Jarrod Bowen the man bold enough to walk into it?