Liverpool Target Trincao as Mohamed Salah Successor
Liverpool are weighing up a fresh name in their search for life after Mohamed Salah – and this one comes from Lisbon.
Liverpool eye Trincao as Salah successor plan evolves
Francisco Trincao, reborn at Sporting CP, has emerged as a serious option for Liverpool as the club quietly reshapes its attack for a future without Salah. Reports in Portugal claim the Reds have registered firm interest in the 26-year-old, whose numbers this season demand attention: 13 goals and 18 assists in 53 games across all competitions.
Those figures are not the output of a bit-part winger. They belong to a player who has finally found rhythm and responsibility, operating both off the right flank and in more central midfield roles. That versatility appeals to Liverpool’s recruitment team, especially with a new tactical era bedding in under Arne Slot and the looming need to replace one of the most prolific forwards in the club’s history.
Rui Borges has already hinted publicly that Trincao could move on this summer. Sporting, as ever, are a selling club at the right price. Liverpool, despite spending more than £450million last year, are not behaving like a team ready to stand still. The Salah question – when, not if, he moves on – sits at the heart of their planning.
Trincao is the latest name to move towards the top of the list.
Diomande door closes, attention shifts
Liverpool’s gaze had not been fixed solely on Portugal. In Germany, 19-year-old Yan Diomande has been tracked closely after a breakout season with RB Leipzig following his move from CD Leganes.
The teenager has impressed to the point that both Liverpool and Manchester United have been linked, but the message from Leipzig has been blunt. Asked whether he expects to still be there in the 2026/27 season, Diomande answered without hesitation: “Yes.”
He expanded on that stance with Kicker, stressing his contentment in Saxony and pointing to the hard numbers behind his rise.
“I’m at Leipzig and I enjoy playing here. In the end, it’s always the statistics that count. It’s been a fantastic year for me.”
Leipzig’s hierarchy have backed up the player’s words with their own. Red Bull chief Oliver Mintzlaff was unequivocal when quizzed on the prospect of a sale this summer.
“I can say: If I were sporting director, I wouldn't sell this young player, who hasn't even completed a full season with us. No matter what price is being asked. I believe he's a player who can still develop further, because he's still very young. And he can certainly become more expensive."
That is not the language of a club inviting bids. It is a warning sign to suitors.
Mintzlaff underlined the project Leipzig believe they can offer, referencing the pull of the Champions League and the expectation that top talents commit for more than a single season before moving on to the likes of FC Bayern or the Premier League and La Liga elite.
“We want to play in the Champions League. And that's naturally an argument for such a young player, to then deliver what he's shown in a second season and potentially develop further – also at an international level.
“So we have many good arguments. And the best argument is a long-term contract. Therefore, I'm completely relaxed about the whole matter.”
The message is clear: Diomande is off the market, at least for now.
A changing shortlist
With one avenue effectively blocked, Liverpool’s recruitment strategy simply pivots. It always does. Trincao’s emergence as a target fits the club’s familiar pattern: a player in his mid-20s, tested in European competition, comfortable in multiple positions, and with production that suggests there is still another level to reach.
Salah’s eventual departure will not be solved by a like-for-like replica. That player does not exist. Instead, Liverpool will look to spread responsibility, tweak the system and find attackers who can carry different phases of the game.
Trincao, flourishing in Lisbon and edging towards a decision on his future, now finds himself at the centre of that conversation. The question is no longer whether Liverpool will move for a new right-sided threat – it is whether Sporting’s winger becomes the man they choose to carry one of the heaviest shirts in European football.
