Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer have imparted a similar message to Liverpool fans regarding one player who’s been rumoured as a potential replacement for Mo Salah at Anfield.
There have been reports of the Reds paying close attention to Bryan Mbeumo, who’s already netted eight Premier League goals this season for Brentford and is believed to carry a £50m valuation at the Gtech Community Stadium.
However, the two former England strikers have advised LFC supporters not to read too much into such speculation as the clock ticks nearer towards the January transfer window.
In the latest episode of The Rest is Football podcas, the duo were asked by one follower for their verdicts on rumours linking Liverpool with Mbeumo.
Shearer replied: “You’ll see loads of reports in between. If he doesn’t sign a deal, Salah, then there’ll be loads of reports and they’ll be linked with so many players in between now and then.
“Agents will be working and pushing their clients here, there and everywhere. It’s what happens, putting things out into the media.”
Lineker concurred: “There’s going to be a lot of rumours, isn’t there? I always take them with a bit of a pinch of salt until you see something a bit nearer that’s closing in on the deal. It’s like during the transfer window. Every club is supposed to be after this player and that player, and it’s just best ignored.”
As the punditry duo said, we can expect to read an abundance of transfer rumours in the coming weeks as the January window draws near, but some will inevitably carry more gravitas than others.
Liverpool have frequently recruited from Premier League clubs outside the ‘big 6’ in recent years, with such acquisitions including Virgil van Dijk, Diogo Jota and Alexis Mac Allister, and they also have an established working relationship with Brentford after selling Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho to the Bees during the summer.
Therefore, a swoop for Mbeumo doesn’t seem wholly implausible, particularly if Mo Salah weren’t to renew his contract at Anfield.
However, despite the Cameroonian’s excellent start to the season, it’d seem a massive gamble to sign him as a direct replacement for the 32-year-old if the latter were to leave, with the Brentford forward having no experience of playing in European competition.
We agree with Lineker and Shearer here – we’d probably take this particular transfer rumour with a pinch of salt for now, but let’s see if it gains any momentum by the time the market opens in the New Year.
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