Mohamed Salah’s new two-year contract at Anfield has not stopped Liverpool from weighing up a move for a longer-term successor, according to reports.
Liverpool were locked in discussions with Salah over a new deal for most of the season, with the Reds said to be reluctant to offer more than a single year’s extension for a player who will turn 33 this summer.
That reached an amicable end earlier this month with Salah finally putting pen to paper on a deal that will keep him at the club until summer 2027, with captain Virgil van Dijk following suit this week.
However, the Sun write that Liverpool continue to keep close tabs on Brentford’s Mbeumo in spite of Salah’s new deal – almost as if the Egyptian is approaching the end of his career and has been picking up an awful lot of the slack for Arne Slot’s front line this season or something.
As left-footed right winger who can play elsewhere across the front three, there are obvious similarities between Mbeumo and Salah, with the most notable difference being that Mbeumo is still only 25 and just coming into what are likely to be his prime years.
The Cameroon international has racked up an impressive 18 goals and 6 assists for Thomas Frank’s side this season and is reportedly available for around £50m.
Signed from Troyes when Brentford were still in the Championship, Mbeumo’s contract at Brentford is set to expire at the end of next season.
But Brentford can feel confident treating it as effectively being two years given they hold the option to trigger an extra year on the deal.
Arsenal and Newcastle are also reported to be interested, but the reports suggest that Liverpool have continued to send scouts to keep a close eye on Mbeumo even since Salah signed his new deal.
So they may well have been playing close attention as Mbeumo grabbed a brace in his side’s 4-2 victory over ten-man Brighton on Saturday afternoon.
That goalscoring prowess could make Mbeumo an attractive prospect to play through the middle of Slot’s front three after an underwhelming season from Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez in the role.