Liverpool's Search for Mohamed Salah's Successor: Trincao Emerges as Key Option

Liverpool are bracing themselves for life after Mohamed Salah. The list of potential heirs to the right flank at Anfield has been long, noisy and ever-changing. Francisco Trincao is the latest name pushed towards the top.

The Sporting CP attacker has forced his way into the conversation the hard way: by producing. Thirteen goals and 18 assists in 53 games this season have turned a once-promising winger into a fully-formed creator, and that output has not gone unnoticed on Merseyside.

Reports in Portugal claim Liverpool are now seriously weighing up a move for the 26-year-old, who has operated both off the right and in more central midfield roles. That versatility will appeal. So will the numbers. For a club staring at the prospect of replacing one of its greatest ever forwards, every option has to be explored.

Trincao emerges as a live option

Liverpool’s recruitment team have been scouring Europe for a player who can help soften the blow of Salah’s eventual departure. After a year in which the club spent over £450m, the rebuild is far from finished, and the attack remains a priority.

Trincao’s form under Rui Borges has pushed him onto the radar. The Sporting coach has already hinted his player could look for a move this summer, and the feeling around Lisbon is that the time may be right for the winger to take another swing at the elite after his earlier spell at Barcelona.

Record, via Sport Witness, report that Liverpool are among the clubs actively interested in taking that gamble. For a side that demands end product from wide areas, the appeal is obvious: Trincao has carried creative responsibility in a title-chasing team and delivered consistently across domestic and European competition.

The question is whether Liverpool see him as the Salah successor or one piece in a broader reshaping of the front line.

Diomande door closes

Trincao’s rise in prominence at Anfield comes as another target edges away.

Yan Diomande, the 19-year-old who has enjoyed a breakout season at RB Leipzig after arriving from CD Leganes, has been tracked by Liverpool and watched closely by Manchester United. The numbers, the maturity, the upside – all of it made him one of the most intriguing young options in Europe.

But the player himself has cooled the speculation. Asked in Germany whether he expects to still be at Leipzig for the 2026/27 season, his answer was short and decisive: “Yes.”

Pressed on the constant noise around his future, he told Kicker he is not thinking about a move and is simply enjoying his football in Leipzig, pointing to his statistics as proof of a “fantastic year”.

Inside the club, the message is even stronger. Red Bull figurehead Oliver Mintzlaff has already planted a flag in the ground. Diomande, he insisted, is not for sale this summer.

“If I were sporting director, I wouldn't sell this young player, who hasn't even completed a full season with us,” he said, making it clear that no offer, at any price, would tempt him right now. Diomande, in his view, is only at the start of his development and can “certainly become more expensive”.

That stance matters. Bayern Munich, clubs from England, giants in Spain – Mintzlaff knows exactly who is circling. His response is blunt: Leipzig cannot afford to lose a standout performer after just one season, especially when they can offer Champions League football, a second year of growth at the highest level and, crucially, a long-term contract.

The subtext is simple. Anyone hoping to prise Diomande away in the coming months is likely wasting their time.

Liverpool’s next move

So Liverpool pivot. With Diomande seemingly locked in at Leipzig, attention swings back to options who are both attainable and ready to contribute immediately.

Trincao fits that profile. He is not the youngest name on the list, but he is battle-tested, tactically flexible and coming off the best season of his career. For a new-look Liverpool under Arne Slot, that blend of experience and upward trajectory carries obvious appeal.

The club know they cannot replace Salah like-for-like. Nobody can. What they can do is piece together a new attack built on volume, variety and a spread of responsibility.

Whether Francisco Trincao becomes part of that solution now rests on how bold Liverpool are prepared to be in a summer that will define the next era at Anfield.