Mo Salah for Antony? Jurgen Klopp was RIGHT with Liverpool swap | OneFootball

Jurgen Klopp reportedly wanted to swap Mo Salah for Antony when he was Liverpool boss. It sounds mad - but he was absolutely right.

The Times reported on Tuesday that Jurgen Klopp wanted to replace Mo Salah with Antony. Que the outrage.

And on the face of it, that's absolutely mental. Salah is one of the world's best players and Antony really, really isn't. He's been a disaster since moving to Manchester United, scoring five Premier League goals in 56 games.

United struck a deal with Ajax at £82m for that privilege.

The two aren't comparable, basically, and few would recommend Antony as a replacement for Salah should the Egyptian's contract expire in June. And yet, Klopp floated the idea.

But he was right to do so.

Jurgen Klopp wanted Antony

The important factor here is that Klopp suggested Antony back in 2022. This was the previous time Salah's contract was expiring and Liverpool were slow to renew it.

In fact, all signs point to them being incredibly reluctant to renew his deal back then. Even Salah's agent is convinced of that.

Salah turned 30 that summer, after all, and the decision-makers at Anfield dislike players over 30 on big money. Hence, we should point out, the delays in new contracts for Virgil van Dijk and Salah (again).

Klopp was seemingly convinced that Salah wouldn't be returning after 2021/22. At the very least, he saw a very real chance that the Reds would let their star man walk for nothing.

The Times' article makes it clear how close that was to reality:

"It is understood that it was Mike Gordon, Fenway Sports Group’s president and responsible for the day-to-day running of the club back then, who ultimately decided renewing was the sensible use of resources."

© IMAGO - Mohamed Salah Liverpool 2024-25

The truly insane thing is that Liverpool were actually considering letting Salah leave on a free transfer. And if that happens, then what?

There is no rich list of alternatives on the right flank. We're seeing that right now - Salah remains the world's best right-sided forward and Liverpool will struggle to find a replacement.

That was also the case in 2022. Anthony, though, was one of the most promising options after a brilliant season at Ajax. There is, after all, a reason Ajax convinced United to pay all of that money.

Now, Liverpool were never going to pay that but at the £25m scouts initially valued him at (the Athletic, 2023)? It made sense. There weren't many better options, especially when the club wasn't going to receive a transfer fee.

It's also easy to make the point that Antony would have become a far better player at Liverpool. The respective track records of the Reds and United over the last decade makes that point quite nicely.

So no, Klopp wasn't mad to suggest Antony could replace Salah. The mad thing is that Liverpool got into a situation where that was a rational suggestion.

The truly insane thing is that we're right back in that same situation.