Les Echos: Liverpool had planned Semeyo to succeed Salah last year and tried to introduce him in the winter window.

Hupu reported on November 17 that according to the English media "Echo", since the team's main right winger Salah will participate in the African Cup of Nations in December, Liverpool is also actively promoting winter window signings.

The following is the content of the article written by "Echo"

In recent years, Liverpool has become accustomed to the phenomenon of losing core players due to the African Cup of Nations midway through the season. Dating back to 2013, the Red Army has had players participate in six consecutive African Cups, and this tradition will continue this winter.

It is reported that Salah, the team’s main right winger this season, will serve as Egypt’s captain in the tournament to be held in Morocco next month. He will miss at least three Liverpool games as the competition kicks off on December 21. If the Egyptian team advances all the way to the final in Rabat on January 18, it may miss as many as eight games, which also poses a problem for Liverpool's arrangement of wingers.

Although Salah has not yet shown his best level in Liverpool's poor form this season, his absence will still have a significant impact - especially considering that the team's key away game against Tottenham and Arsenal overlaps with the African Cup of Nations schedule.

This is not the first time that Liverpool has faced Salah leaving the team midway through the season to participate in the African Cup: the Egyptian forward in 2021 and 2023 has missed several games due to participation. During the 2021 tournament in Cameroon, the Red Army also lost Mane and Keita; during the 2017 African Cup of Nations in Gabon, Mane also left the team midway. Earlier, in 2015 and 2013, Toure and Assadi also left the team temporarily due to competition.

Although the absence of fringe player Asadi had little impact on the team coached by Rodgers at the time (he only played 4 Premier League games for Liverpool), Liverpool did establish a deeper stake in this competition in the past ten years.

But Liverpool is not the only affected team in the Premier League. Manchester City (Malmouche, Ait Nouri) and Manchester United (Mbemo, Diallo, Mazraoui) will both face the loss of players, and 13 Premier League clubs including Villa and Brighton will also have players participating.

Bournemouth does not need to worry about the departure of Ghana forward Semayo - the Ghana international unexpectedly missed the African Cup of Nations because the Black Stars were eliminated at the bottom of the qualifiers for the first time since 2004. This is a blessing for the Cherries, who are relying on the in-form striker for the Christmas schedule.

But Ghana's absence could also push for a potential transfer to happen. The 25-year-old Semeyo is rumored to be involved with a number of Premier League giants. The absence of the African Cup makes interested clubs more inclined to make a move in the winter window. Liverpool are one of those who are paying attention, and have regarded him as a long-term successor to Salah as early as last year.

If the Red Army is determined to buy in the winter window, there will be no need to worry about his absence from work due to the African Cup of Nations. In addition, Semeyo's "locally trained" status is also attractive to clubs including Liverpool - there are only 5 locally trained players on Liverpool's Premier League roster this season, resulting in a lineup limited to 24 players. When registering for the Champions League, the team was initially forced to lose out on Chiesa because it had only five local players. After young Italian central defender Leoni was reimbursed, he was re-selected into Liverpool's Champions League squad this season.

According to UEFA regulations, if a team wants to register a full 25-man roster, it can only include a maximum of 17 non-local players. Among the remaining 8 places, the association shall not train more than 4 players. If Semeyo, who meets the association's training standards, can join, it will effectively ease the Red Army's registration pressure.

If Liverpool advances to the Champions League knockout rounds, up to 3 places can be registered for new players. This means that signing Semeyo in the winter window can be completed without removing existing players. These factors have increased the feasibility of introducing the Ghanaian striker, but it still takes time to verify whether the rumors can be turned into actual actions.