Liverpool legend slams Arne Slot after Mo Salah alternative signed by rivals
Jamie Redknapp says Antoine Semenyo would have been a ‘superstar’ at Liverpool after Manchester City snapped up the winger from Bournemouth for £64m, leaving Arne Slot short of a Mo Salah replacement
Arne Slot is facing intense pressure at Liverpool(Image: James Gill – Danehouse, Getty Images)
Liverpool’s failure to secure Antoine Semenyo could prove pivotal, according to former Reds legend Jamie Redknapp. Arne Slot has encountered increasing scrutiny at Anfield, and Mohamed Salah’s expected exit from the club is set to make the Dutch manager’s job considerably harder next term.
The Reds were reportedly pursuing Semenyo for an extended spell, with the gifted winger viewed by numerous observers as the perfect replacement for Salah. However, Manchester City swooped for the attacker from Bournemouth in January with a £64million bid.
He has proved a tremendous success for the Citizens. In just 27 outings, the Ghana international has found the net 11 times and registered two assists as City secured a League Cup and FA Cup double this campaign.
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The Liverpool icon has indicated that the squandered chance could carry major ramifications. He believes a player of Semenyo’s calibre might have bolstered the Reds next season, thus easing the burden on Slot.
“So there’s going to be a lot of changes at Liverpool and I think we have to trust in the team to get the right players in but the right wing is obviously the key one because you need to find someone that’s going to fill Mohammed Salah’s boots,” Redknapp said, reports the Mirror.
“I think Semenyo was a big loss. I think Liverpool probably had an opportunity to get him at one point. And then City jumped in, because I think he would have been a superstar at Liverpool as well. So that was a bit of a shame.” Slot has reportedly received the endorsement to guide Liverpool into next season from the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group.
Redknapp believes the Premier League title-winning boss requires backing in the transfer market but recognised the enormous pressure Slot will face from the opening day of the new campaign.
“I think you’ve just got to trust the club,” Redknapp added. “Arne will need a little bit of help next year, because if Liverpool don’t start well, he knows the price on the ticket, the pressure will come on him very early, because of what’s happened this season. And Arne knows that, but I think my feeling is he deserves a bit more respect.”
Redknapp isn’t oblivious to the issues plaguing the club under Slot and the frustration amongst supporters that has threatened to boil over this season. Nevertheless, he stressed that numerous factors, including the tragic death of Liverpool forward Diogo Jota, will have had an enormous impact on the Reds’ campaign.
“Liverpool fans are probably, in terms of a fan base, understand the game [really well],” he said. “For me, there’s no one better and I totally get their frustration with the football this year that’s been served up. It hasn’t been good enough, been too slow, pedestrian but I would also say there’s a lot of mitigating circumstances and I don’t want to keep harping on to the start of the season.
“But that was very difficult for people to come into that environment. You know, you sign three or four new players and then there was obviously [the death of] Diogo Jota. And I just don’t think you can underestimate how difficult that was for everybody to get to deal with because it was a teammate, somebody you loved, somebody that just won the title.”
The former England midfielder has teamed up with Kellogg’s, who are hosting football camps this summer in collaboration with the EFL, Manchester City, Celtic FC and Rangers FC. He reckons the camps offer youngsters the opportunity to get outside and develop crucial life skills on the field.
“There are kids that are just stuck indoors doing nothing and they’re just scrolling their phones,” he said. “And it’s just it’s really just not good for your brain. It’s not good for your energy. It’s no good for anything. So I’m a big advocate of this. And so when I got the opportunity to do it, it just felt a really cool initiative.”
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