Liverpool must look at 22-year-old livewire with 12 goals this season to replace Mohamed Salah – RTK View

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Liverpool supposedly want Antony in their squad and the Brazilian could be their replacement for a certain superstar.

Brazilian outlet UOL reports that Liverpool have eyes on Antony. The Brazilian shares an agent with Raphinha – a player the Reds also like – and they could try to sign him from Ajax this summer.

The Dutch giants would apparently accept around £33m, too. That could be a bargain, given Antony’s obvious talent. And for Liverpool, that money could carry extra value.

Liverpool like Antony

Antony thrives on the right-wing, scoring 12 goals in all competitions for Ajax this season and registering another eight assists. If you’re signing him, it’s to play there.

Liverpool, though, have their best forward on that flank – Mohamed Salah. No one is coming in and unseating him, of course.

There is, however, a lot of uncertainty around his future. Salah’s contract expires in 2023 and no one yet knows if Liverpool will come to terms on a renewal. It’s very possible they don’t, which will ask if they’re to sell him this summer before losing their star forward for free.

It’s why we recently said that the lack of certainty there makes signing a replacement difficult. The Reds don’t actually have another forward who is most comfortable on the right – they’d need to sign someone. But a player like Raphinha could move on quickly and before Liverpool even know if they should be in the race.

Liverpool couldn’t sign someone like Raphinha and then find out that Salah is staying. In fact, they likely couldn’t convince the player to arrive even if the Reds’ no.11 stayed just one more year. Is Raphinha really going to play second fiddle for a year at this point?

And that’s why Antony might be the answer. Not only is there no frantic race to sign him – or at least, not as with Raphinha – but he is good enough to compete now if Liverpool need it.

More importantly, he’s only 22. He could wait a year to take over from Salah. He could even play alongside the Egyptian and develop other roles long-term. For us, he seems like sensible option for the Reds.