Liverpool transfer news: former Slot player from Ligue 1 on Liverpool’s radar as Salah successor

Liverpool are believed to be ready to act on their interest in Olympique de Marseille's Igor Paixao as they look to replace Mohamed Salah this summer. The Reds have been warned of the fee Marseille intend to demand.

Liverpool eye Paixao as Salah successor

Eliminated by PSG in the Champions League quarter-finals and out of the title race, Liverpool have little left to play for this season beyond securing a top-five Premier League finish and Champions League qualification. There is little doubt, however, that the Anfield club are already turning their attention to the summer window.

One of Liverpool's key priorities is well established: replacing Mohamed Salah, who will leave the club in the coming weeks. According to Sports Boom, the Reds are keen to revisit a target they first pursued in the summer of 2025 — Igor Paixao, the 25-year-old Brazilian left winger at Marseille. Liverpool are understood to be preparing a formal offer.

A reunion with Slot on the cards?

Paixao came through Feyenoord Rotterdam, where he worked under a certain Arne Slot — now in the Liverpool dugout. The Macapa-born winger was signed by Marseille for £25.5m last summer and has since delivered 12 goals and seven assists in 38 appearances across all competitions. The prospect of reuniting with the Dutch manager — assuming Slot remains in charge at Anfield — is unlikely to leave him cold, having faced Liverpool in the Europa League at the Velodrome in January, a game the Reds won 3-0.

While it would be something of a surprise for Marseille to part with him after just one season, the club's new leadership under president Stephane Richard has been quick to set a price. Any sale in the summer of 2026 would require a fee of around £50m — double what Marseille paid for him.

Under contract until June 2030, Paixao is attracting interest beyond Merseyside. Arsenal are also credited with interest, with Mikel Arteta's side eyeing left-wing cover should Gabriel Martinelli depart. Bayer Leverkusen are similarly said to be admirers, according to the same source.