Steven Gerrard didn’t dress it up. Replacing Mohamed Salah like-for-like is close to impossible – and the one name he did put forward already looks locked behind iron doors in Munich.
"If you want to bring in a direct replacement for Salah, there are very few options out there," Gerrard said on talkSPORT. "Olise would be one, I’d say."
Then came the reality check. Bayern Munich have Michael Olise exactly where they want him: under a long contract, at the heart of their attack, and nowhere near the transfer market.
"I don’t think he’d be available," Gerrard admitted, echoing what everyone in Liverpool’s recruitment department already knows.
Bayern Close Ranks Around Their New Star
Olise is tied to Bayern until 2029. That detail alone tells its own story. Bayern do not hand out long-term deals to players they plan to cash in on quickly, especially not when they’ve become central to the team’s identity so fast.
So the rumours started swirling. Liverpool. Real Madrid. FC Barcelona. A new attacking superstar lighting up Europe will always draw glances from the game’s heavyweights.
At Säbener Straße, those rumours barely raise an eyebrow.
"These rumours make everyone at the club smile," Bayern supervisory board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told As when asked about the speculation around Olise. He was blunt about Bayern’s position. "He still has three years left on his contract – there’s nothing more to say on the matter. People come to the stadium for players like him."
That last line cuts to the core. Bayern see Olise not just as a valuable asset, but as a reason fans fill the Allianz Arena. Those players do not leave easily. Certainly not in a summer where Europe’s elite are circling.
Liverpool’s €200m Question
Reports suggest Liverpool are prepared to go as high as €200 million to tempt Bayern into talks. It would be a statement fee, even in an inflated market. A marker that the post-Salah era at Anfield will not be timid.
Bayern’s response? Silence, bordering on disdain.
Sporting director Max Eberl made the club’s stance crystal clear in Sport Bild: those in charge at Säbener Straße are not wasting "a single thought" on a possible Olise transfer.
No negotiation. No softening. No hint of a door left ajar. For now, Liverpool are pushing against a wall that will not move.
From Palace Prospect to Bayern Centrepiece
Olise’s rapid rise explains the ferocity of Bayern’s resistance. Signed from Crystal Palace in 2024 for €53 million, the French international has exploded in Munich.
He is not just contributing. He is driving games.
So far this season, he has been directly involved in 44 goals. Sixteen scored, twenty-eight created. At 24, those are not just good numbers; they are elite, Salah-level numbers. The sort of output that turns a promising winger into a cornerstone of a project.
No wonder Liverpool are looking his way as they stare down the end of an era.
Life After Salah
Salah’s decision has changed everything at Anfield. At the end of March, the Egyptian announced he would leave the reigning English champions early, departing at the end of the season despite a contract running until 2027.
Since 2017, he has been Liverpool’s guarantee. Goals, big moments, trophies. A constant. Across 436 appearances, he has scored 255 times for the club, numbers that place him among the greatest to wear the shirt.
You don’t just replace that. You reimagine it.
Where Salah goes next remains open. Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia have been strongly linked, and the financial pull from that league remains enormous. For Liverpool, though, the focus lies elsewhere: how to reshape an attack that has revolved around one man for nearly a decade.
No One-for-One, But a New Liverpool
Gerrard, for one, does not believe Liverpool will box themselves into chasing a single, unattainable target.
"Liverpool’s scouting department will have several options in mind. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a one-for-one replacement," he said, backing the club to navigate the transition even if their pursuit of Olise comes to nothing.
That line may prove decisive. If Bayern keep their grip on Olise – and every signal from Munich says they will – Liverpool’s challenge is not to find the next Salah, but to build the next Liverpool.
With Salah walking away and Olise seemingly out of reach, the question is no longer who replaces the Egyptian king.
It’s what the new attacking throne at Anfield will look like – and who is bold enough to claim it.
