Michael Olise has been linked with Liverpool this year and helped Crystal Palace to a 1-0 win at Anfield, as well as ripping Manchester United apart earlier this week.
However, one former Reds winger thinks that the LFC hierarchy should snub the French dynamo in favour of a one-time Manchester City ace who’s punished us in the past.
Jermaine Pennant said (via DAZN): “I don’t think Olise is an ideal replacement for Mo Salah. You need someone with more experience, like Leroy Sane. For me that would be a great signing.
“He has pace, he cuts in on his right or left. When he played at the Emirates, he was absolutely unreal. He tore Arsenal apart. If he can do that to Arsenal at the Emirates, he’d be an amazing signing. He knows the Premier League with City, so I’d rather Leroy than Olise, even though he’s a great player.”
Sane would bring plenty of title-winning nous to Liverpool from his time with City and Bayern Munich, infamously scoring the goal which consigned us to our only defeat in the 2018/19 Premier League and ultimately saw us finish second by a solitary point.
The 28-year-old has enjoyed a productive season in Bavaria, with 10 goals and 13 assists in 42 games (Transfermarkt), and Pennant rightly points to his performance away to Arsenal last month, winning a penalty for his team in their 2-2 draw in the Champions League quarter-finals.
However, the Reds’ incomings in recent transfer windows have largely comprised players under the age of 25 at the time of signing, and the Anfield hierarchy may deem Olise to have greater long-term value than the Germany international.
The Palace forward has averaged more than 0.5 goals per game this season (nine in 17 appearances) and has a remarkably high ceiling, but the one notable concern over him isn’t one of experience but rather availability, having missed 21 matches from two separate hamstring injuries in the current campaign (Transfermarkt).
The preference is obviously to keep Salah for at least another year or two, and if the 22-year-old Eagles winger can get through that period without any big injury concerns, he could then be the perfect candidate to pick up from wherever the Egyptian leaves off.
