Liverpool can imagine future without Mohamed Salah despite goals in Man United rout

If you’re a Liverpool fan, there was a lot going on on Sunday. Relief. Revenge. Renewed hope. It was also about Mo Salah, whose two goals surpassed him ahead of Robbie Fowler as Liverpool’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League. It really seemed to mean something to him too, which was good to see.

More broadly though, Salah’s place at Anfield is changing.

The certain thing is that the Liverpool no longer trusts so much in the Egyptian like before. His role in Jurgen Klopp’s team is slowly evolving and changing. For the first time in a long time, it is possible to imagine a future without it.

Salah will turn 31 in June, at which point he will have two years left on his current contract with Liverpool. Will the club allow him to end that and leave for free in 2025? By then he would have given the club eight years.

Or will they sell it a year early in an attempt to at least earn a fraction of what it’s been worth to them all that time? It’s hard to tell, but it is now possible to catch a glimpse of what Liverpool’s attack will look like in the future.

Salah scored twice in the win, but Liverpool no longer trust him like before.

Darwin Núñez (left) and Cody Gakpo (right) are rising and Salah’s role is now evolving

There was a time when Liverpool had a ‘Fab Four’. Salah, Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino. When Firmino leaves this summer, only Salah will remain.

But smart clubs like Liverpool and Manchester City catch up as they go. They see the forks in the road and make sure they are ready.

So as times change at Anfield, the likes of Darwin Núñez, Luis Díaz, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo have been recruited and featured. All these players have something to prove.

Gakpo, with all its excellence on Sunday, is new and raw. Núñez is explosive, hugely talented but inconsistent at this stage. While Díaz and Jota have suffered injuries.

However, it is possible to glimpse a Liverpool attacking future built around these players.

Salah will be part of the transition. He is still essential right now and has scored 11 Premier League goals so far this season. He scored 32 in 2017-18, but that was atypical. Usually he arrives around the 21/22/23 mark.

You could get somewhere close to that if you run, now. But in Núñez and Gakpo the support is there.

All Liverpool have to do now is pull off the same trick with their central midfield.

Jurgen Klopp recruited well in attack and the Reds can now imagine a future without Salah

The Egyptian will have a role to play in the transition as his experience can guide the young stars.