£80m winger is now Liverpool’s top target after Wirtz

Liverpool love to get their business done nice and early in the transfer window, and that ethos has proved no different this summer.

Whereas last year, an August attempt to sign Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi, who is now set for Arsenal, fell through, this summer FSG are fully settled into their new infrastructure and are attacking the market with menace.

There will be something of a pause over the next days though, with the market slamming shut this evening until next Monday, prematurely opened due to exceptional circumstances because of the Club World Cup.

However, this won’t mean sporting director Richard Hughes will freeze his negotiating, having already signed Jeremie Frimpong to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold and pushing to close deals for Milos Kerkez and Florian Wirtz, both of whom are expected to play for Liverpool next season.

But with the likes of Darwin Nunez, Federico Chiesa and Luis Diaz‘s futures uncertain, there’s only so much the Reds can do.

Indeed, with interest fierce for Colombian winger Diaz, Liverpool may need a new star to complement Mohamed Salah on the opposite flank.

Why Liverpool need new forwards

If Liverpool manage to pull off the signing of Wirtz, he would more likely than not take the number ten spot, which would push Dominik Szoboszlai into a deeper, eight-type role.

And if Diaz is sold, with Barcelona and Al-Nassr among the 28-year-old’s admirers, the urgency for a new left-sided forward would only be heightened.

Mohamed Salah, after all, can’t do it all on his own once again next season. The Egyptian King was the leading man through Arne Slot‘s successful first season on Merseyside, winning the Premier League.

Most Goals + Assists 24/25 (Europe’s top 5 leagues)
Player	Apps	Goals	Assists	G/A
Mohamed Salah	38	29	18	47
Harry Kane	31	26	10	36
Kylian Mbappe	34	31	3	34
Omar Marmoush	33	22	12	34
Mateo Retegui	36	25	8	33
Data via Transfermarkt

He might have signed a new two-year contract at the club, but Salah turns 33 in a few days and will need some more support.

That’s why, if Diaz goes, Liverpool are ready to sign one of the most exciting wide forwards playing in English football.

Liverpool chasing new winger

As per Football Insider, Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon is at the top of Liverpool’s shopping list this summer, with FSG warming to the idea of signing a new winger.

Though AC Milan’s Rafael Leao has also been added to the list, it’s Gordon who Liverpool hope to give priority in the event of Diaz’s departure, though Arsenal are believed to be interested too.

Valued at £80m, the England international clearly wouldn’t come cheap, but he was profiled by Liverpool’s chiefs last summer and is of a long-standing interest to the Premier League champions.

What Anthony Gordon would bring to Liverpool

When Gordon transferred from Everton to Newcastle for £45m in January 2023, he was a talented prospect, sure, but perhaps not one who justified such a heavy outlay.

Fast-track to the present, and the 24-year-old’s stock has ballooned almost twofold, having been crowned Newcastle’s 2023/24 Player of the Season after notching 28 goal involvements.

Declaring himself a “nightmare for anyone” he comes up against, Gordon didn’t reach the same heights last season even as his side went from strength to strength, winning the Carabao Cup and restoring their place in the Champions League, but he still contributed toward the team’s success.

Ferocious when striding forward, powerful with his shooting and clever with his passing, Gordon has the full package of qualities at his core, and could find himself reaching a new level in his development, if charged by Salah.

Long renowned as one of the deadliest goalscorers on the continent, Salah has tailored his game to a new level of playmaking over the past few years, with Father Time casting furtive glances his way.

As per FBref, the winger ranked among the top 1% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues last term for assists, the top 14% for goal-creating actions and the top 4% for carries into the penalty area, emphasising his peerless ability to drive into dangerous positions and make things happen.

Goal-creating actions are pieces of play that lead to a goal. These include moments such as a pass, take-on or foul being drawn.

With Gordon overlapping on the alternate flank, finding space of his own, Salah might just find the perfect man to arc his crisp, threaded cross-box passes toward.

Though Liverpool’s main man is getting on a bit, he’s hardly going to fall from a proverbial cliff at the start of the 2025/26 season, especially after reaching such astronomic heights in a new role, intensity reduced, under Slot’s wing.

However, he will need support, and Gordon – essentially a right-footed version of the Reds star – proved across the 2023/24 term that he can produce almighty hauls across both goalscoring and creative metrics to drive his team toward success.

With an athletic style, improvements across the past two years under Howe’s coaching, and indeed a desire to return to Merseyside having been released from Liverpool’s academy aged 11, boyhood Red Gordon would be a credit to Liverpool’s team.

For now, we will have to wait and see what happens with Diaz, but if Saudi suitors pay the big bucks for Liverpool’s experienced star, who better to bring into the fold, giving Salah a new partner to work with, than the Prem-proven Gordon?