Liverpool have got their Mohamed Salah replacement. But can he live up to the Egyptian's heights?
Mohamed Salah left Liverpool this summer and it means we're heading into a campaign without the Egyptian for the first time since 2016. It's safe to say he'll be a massive loss.
Even last season, in what was a below-par season for Salah, he still outperformed nearly all possible replacements. Six goals and six assists in the Premier League was awful for him but would actually represent a good season for most.
Liverpool have been battling with that fact this summer. They've completely failed to replace Salah, having missed out on their no.1 target, Yan Diomande. The market behind him has been awful, quite honestly, with no obvious contenders to step up and fill the void.
And so the club have had no alternative but to think outside the box. We believe they've done that and have actually found their Salah replacement already.
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Victor Munoz typically plays from the left, or at least that's where he had his season for Osasuna last term. We've also seen him line up on the left for Liverpool in pre-season, including against Como on Sunday.
But this is a player who can undoubtedly play on either side. After all, he's not a player like Salah who wants to move in and create with his head up. Instead, he's someone who wants to burst past defenders and open teams up, stretching play and causing a bit of chaos.
On paper, it doesn't actually matter what side he's on to do that. Munoz will go on the inside or the outside, and we think he may be ideally placed to stretch games from the right, adding width for others to thrive on.
This is particularly important if someone like Ronald Araujo is to play right-back. Araujo won't stretch games by getting forward and would instead be a defensive player - Munoz, then, could operate in front of him with a licence to hit the byline.
Wyscout data tells us that since breaking into Real Madrid's Under 19 side, the majority of Munoz's minutes have actually come on the right flank. 3069 on that side, with 2296 coming from the left (and another 1647 in the middle).
There can be little doubt, then, that he's a weapon for Liverpool out there. And with Bradley Barcola - a left-winger - wanted for big-money in the next couple of weeks, the club surely believe Munoz is capable of playing on the other side.
We think he can be a major threat there and, ultimately, the one who fills the Salah void.