Arne Slot says Liverpool are already working on sourcing a successor to Mohamed Salah at Anfield - but admits replacing the Egypt superstar is "probably impossible".
And the Reds boss is adamant the best way to make up for not having Salah available from next season will be to get Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz together on the pitch far more than the trio have been able so far.
Salah confirmed in a social media video late last month that he would be calling time on his decorated Anfield career at the end of this season, which immediately led to speculation over how Liverpool go about finding a player capable of succeeding the legendary frontman.
Liverpool are expected to scour the market for a winger this summer but Slot says it is the attacking trio signed last summer for £320m - Wirtz, Isak and Ekitike - who will be asked to shoulder the creative and goalscoring burden going forward on Merseyside. The head coach pointed to just how little all three have been available for in their maiden campaigns to date.
"Of course we do," Slot said when asked if the club are working on a Salah successor. "We are not starting to work on it now because we are constantly working on where we can improve.
"There is not a lot talked about this but it is 88 minutes that Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz were together on the pitch together.
"So let’s first find out and work out how that works together and that can give us so much more. It is never one player who can replace Mo.
"Otherwise there would be 15 or 20 Mo’s and he is one of a kind, which is why he is so special. You cannot find a Mo replacement. Maybe you can but he would not be available. Yes I am [involved in summer planning]. I know why you ask this question."
Slot added: "How the league has changed is maybe not so much to do with the winger position that we need to recruit.
"But we are aware that football has changed in England. We will always try to have our own style, but we cannot shut our eyes for the new reality and that is that it's not only low blocks, it's also set-piece after set-piece after set-piece.
"One of the reasons why we haven't been successful in the first half of the season was mainly set-pieces. Yes, I'm fully involved in next season and we have these discussions as well. How can we unlock a low block? Now, the England manager (Thomas Tuchel) has an opinion about that.
"Wingers are very important to unlock a load block, as we noticed last season with Mo and Luis Diaz. But there are more things that you have to be aware of like set-piece, defending all these long throw -ins and all these pieces that teams do.
"Maybe having someone that has a long throw-in because when we had this with Joe Gomez we immediately scored against Nottingham Forest. So you try to make the team as best as possible, and that's why replacing Mo on a one-on-one is probably impossible.
"So we have to find a way of making it work that the team is stronger but it would already make our team much stronger if we've got Alex, Hugo and Florian together available for a bit more than 88 minutes this year. "
