It’s a miracle we won the league and European cup without Sancho or Mbappe or Messi in the squad. Almost like we’re well managed and coached!
Salah, Mane & Firmino were all in that 26-28 age bracket for those two trophies.
They'll start next season aged 29 (Firmino 30 soon after it starts)
At 29/30 you wouldn't expect age to be the reason for a decline, so it's very likely Salah will be just as effective, and we must hope that Mane & Firmino recover their previous form.
But in 2 season's time? Will we still be claiming they've got at least another season in them?
Regardless, in 2 seasons their transfer values are going to be way lower than now, especially Salah's.
I'm not proposing moving any on, least of all Salah. But we need to face reality.
The club is not financially-doped, and our previous big outlays have been funded with player sales. Whilst I'd love to be proved wrong, I don't see FSG reaching into their deep pockets and stumping up £100m+ for a ready-made replacement for Salah especially.
That means we either:
1) replace Salah with another underpriced player about to burst through into that top-elite bracket (difficult at the best of times, but a multitude of other clubs have cottoned onto and begun to ape our strategy and scouting)
2) buy someone from the very cream of top talent a year or two early (more expensive than the above, but not £100m+)
3) or cash-in on Salah whilst his value is still high, earlier than we'd ideally want, then use that to buy an Mbappe-type player
Sancho fits into that 2) option. I think he's streets better than Raphinha, for instance, and with more developing to do.
I don't know which option would be best. 1) is the most fraught with risk.
