Liverpool knew the day would come when their deadly front three of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino would be split up, but not even Jurgen Klopp could have foreseen all three leaving in the space of a year.
That nightmare could become a reality with all three players entering the final 12 months of their contracts. The Anfield club have been desperate to tie down Mane and Salah to new deals but both have been reluctant to commit their futures.
Salah insists he will remain at Liverpool next year, but has been coy about where he will be beyond 2023. Mane's situation is slightly more alarming after it emerged this week that he wants to seek a new challenge with Bayern Munich reportedly ready to launch a summer bid.
Liverpool will only sell at the right price with a £42.5million price tag placed on the Senegal international, but it seems they are preparing themselves for the inevitable, whether it's this summer or next. The same situation goes for Salah with the club seemingly making no progress in contract talks.
The Reds have already started planning for the future with the recent arrivals of Diogo Jota and Luiz Diaz but they'll be wanting to maintain their squad depth, which helped them fight on all four fronts this season. Jose Enrique has weighed in on who would be the perfect replacements for Klopp to target as the former Liverpool midfielder picked out West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen and Arsenal star Bukayo Saka as players that could fit into his side.
Klopp has spoken publicly of his admiration for Bowen after he finished West Ham's top scorer this season with 18 goals in all competitions. "I like Bowen a lot," the German said earlier this year. "He made his way up from Hull and took not too long to show exactly what kind of player he can be in the Premier League. He made big steps."
"Bowen, what a player he became," Klopp added. "He was at Hull as well but I don't think anybody expected this kind of jump. Unbelievable player."
Klopp has echoed those sentiments for Saka who continues his meteoric rise at Arsenal as the German labelled him a "very young and exciting player" back in November 2021. The Gunners will be reluctant to let the winger go but the player has expressed his desire to test himself in the Champions League one day.
Here's how Liverpool could line up with the English duo if Salah and Mane were to depart.
Bowen and Saka would be like-for-like replacements for the Liverpool pair, which is music to Klopp's ears as he wouldn't have to tinker with his side's style of play too much.
The ever-solid back five of Alisson in goal and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson remains untouched, while Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Thiago would also continue to occupy the middle of the park.
Bowen and Saka typically play as wingers and if they are in the line-up, Jota would likely get the nod through the middle over Luiz Diaz. Both players tend to play on the left-hand side, which means there would need to be a slight adjustment with one of them going over to the right-hand side, but this shouldn't be too much of an issue.
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Their versatility means Klopp would have plenty of options at his disposal, however, as he does with Salah and Mane, which is what makes them an attractive proposition. For instance, Diaz could swap in for Jota with Bowen playing through the middle, something he has done for the Hammers on occasion this season.
Possible Liverpool XI : Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Konate, Van Dijk, Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago, Bowen, Saka, Jota.
