Liverpool veteran Pennant gave his insight into the Reds' future squad in a recent interview. In particular, in response to the possible departure of Salah, he believes Bayern winger Sane would be the ideal candidate to replace the Egyptian striker.
Pennant said, "There are a lot of players in the winger position who have the pace and finishing ability to replace Salah, who could leave the club. And after watching Sane play against Arsenal in the Champions League, I'm even more convinced that I'd really like to see him join Liverpool."
He further emphasized, "It's not often that I see a player perform so well against Arteta's Arsenal, but Sane has been able to produce this level of performance almost every week in the Bundesliga."
On whether Sane is a good fit for Liverpool, Pennant gave an affirmative answer, "He already knows enough about the Premier League during his time at Manchester City, so I think Sane will be the right man to replace Salah if he leaves Liverpool next summer."
However, Pennant also admitted that Sane may not be able to fully replicate Salah's brilliance at Liverpool: "Can Sane achieve what Salah did? I don't think so. But then again, who could? Salah is definitely a world-class player in the position he's in, because he's achieved very excellent results in Liverpool for so many years."
In addition, Pennant also mentioned Arsenal's young winger Saka, saying that although he has good potential, he has not yet reached a world-class level: "Is Saka capable of replacing Salah in Liverpool's starting lineup? I don't think so, at least not yet. His best performance so far has been 15 goals, whereas Salah scores 20 goals and has double digit assists every season. So if Saka wants to reach world-class level, he still needs to reach Salah's standards first."
