Is it more beneficial to rely upon one uber-prolific player for goals – see Liverpool and Mo Salah – or to spread those goals around more evenly without a particularly reliable finisher in the ranks?
In truth, there is no 100 per cent answer to such a question.
While Mo Salah fires Liverpool to the verge of a second Premier League title – his potentially Golden Boot-securing tally of 27 is more than double Luis Diaz, coming in second with 11 – previous champions have secured English football’s biggest prize with a more collaborative approach to goalscoring.
Take the Manchester City side of 2021/22. Post-Sergio Aguero and pre-Erling Haaland.
Man City’s leading Premier League marksman, that season, was Kevin de Bruyne with 15. The year before that, Ilkay Gundogan [13] and Raheem Sterling [10] were the only City players in double figures as another title was sealed.
After Mo Salah signed a new two-year deal at Anfield this month, Liverpool should have themselves a potential 30-goal-a-season attacker until the summer of 2027. Provided the evergreen Egyptian can continue defying the laws of Father Time, that is.
But former Reds stalwart Jamie Carragher does have some reservations about the rest of Arne Slot’s squad. At least, when it comes to the final third.
If Salah is injured, suspended, away on AFCON duty or he begins to decline, do Liverpool have a De Bruyne or a Gundogan-style figure capable of breaking into double figures from midfield?
Jamie Carragher thinks Liverpool need a Cole Palmer
Carragher wants Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike signed this summer; The £85 million-rated Frenchman headlining six new additions. But the 2005 Champions League winner also feels that Liverpool need an upgrade on Dominik Szoboszlai if they are to ascend to the next level under Arne Slot.
For all the Hungarian’s fierce work rate and his seemingly boundless energy reserves, Szoboszlai only has five Premier League goals from 25 starts. Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones have seven between them, while Harvey Elliott and Ryan Gravenberch are both yet to get off the mark.
“Midfield positions, I think Szoboszlai, Liverpool could improve that,” Carragher argues. “I know hes a completely different player because he’s got great energy but think about what Arsenal have got in Martin Odegaard.
“What Man City have in De Bruyne. I know Phil Foden is not having a great season but that type of player.
Chelsea have got Cole Palmer.
“[Liverpool should sign] someone who is gonna give you close to 15-20 goals a season from that position.”
Last season, Palmer hit the target 22 times while Foden struck 19. Odegaard and De Bruyne have also enjoyed double-digit seasons in the Premier League.
Of course, prolific goalscoring midfielders do not grow on trees. In recent months, Liverpool have been linked with Aston Villa’s Boubakar Kamara, Wolves’ Joao Gomes and Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich, to name but three.
They are all more deep-lying options, however. Ditto Orkun Kokcu, the number ten-turned-playmaker who won the Eredivisie title under Arne Slot before moving to Benfica.
Xavi Simons could be Anfield’s answer to Phil Foden
The player who best fits Carragher’s description – of those currently linked with Liverpool – is perhaps Xavi Simons of RB Leipzig. Another who, like Szoboszlai, honed his talents on Red Bull’s watch, Simons is a fearsome ball-striker from anywhere in and around the penalty area.
He shared the Eredivisie Golden Boot with PSV Eindhoven in 2023, and has ten goals in each of his two Leipzig seasons thus far.
Last week, former PSG and Barcelona starlet Xavi Simons indicated he may look to leave the Bundesliga in the summer transfer window amid claims that he is on Liverpool’s wishlist.
“I’m still a young player, I have many dreams – and the club knows that,” Simons said. “But right now, the most important thing for me is to play well in the upcoming games. Then we have the international matches, and after that we’ll sit down and see what happens.”
RB Leipzig are expected to demand £68 million. But, if Simons could turn into Liverpool’s answer to a Palmer, a Foden or an Odegaard, while easing the goalscoring burden on an ageing Mo Salah, then he may be worth every penny.
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