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In the wake of Lucas' injury yesterday evening--the nature of which is still unclar--many assumed that the next logical step was to pursue an imposing central midfield presence. Joe Allen can fill in, as he showed in flashes yesterday, but only back from injury himself, the Welshman doesn't quite have the qualities needed to replace Lucas on a consistent basis. Plenty of names have been mentioned, but with Jorginho signing for Napoli this weekend and talk of a Fernando Reges deal cooling, there aren't any immediate solutions to the problem Lucas' absence will pose.
So it's unsurprising that anything close to "breaking" transfer news focuses instead on another target, with Mohamed Salah once again the target of increased speculation. A number of outlets on Sunday night confirmed--insofar as anything can be confrimed during a transfer window--that the club would be redoubling their efforts to bring the winger to Anfield, with talk of a bid in the coming days.
It may yet prove idle chatter yet again, but the Guardian, Times, and Express all ran with the story in some capacity in the past 24 hours. Much of the discussion was lost in the lamenting of a dismal display at Anfield, and understandably so, but we might finally be getting some sort of movement after a quiet first half of the month.
Salah might not be the top priority for many, with the aforementioned need for cover in the midfield taking center stage and another fullback (preferably one who can play on both sides) on the shopping list for most of the past four years. But if Salah is available at the right price he'd be a welcome addition, and would hopefully prove to be the type of option in attack that Liverpool thought they'd be getting when they brought Victor Moses in on loan.
In a perfect world, some sort of deal gets hashed out at an acceptable price in the next few days, and work gets done on the other areas of need--which Jonathan Norcroft from the The Times confirmed were the areas we've discussed--as January starts to come to a close. After yesterday's disappointment, activity in the transfer market, progress in the FA Cup, and a win in the derby would be a fantastic launching pad into the final three and a half months of the season.
