John Barnes Suggests Ronaldo Could Replace One Of the Three In Liverpool’s Starting XI

John Barnes insists that only Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappe could replace the Liverpool front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino.

Liverpool’s attacking trio remains one of the most lethal attacking force in world football. The three front men have played significant roles in Liverpool’s success in the recent seasons, guiding the team to Champions League and Premier League glories in two respective seasons.

Last season, as The Reds won the league title, their team found the back of the net 85 times, more than the likes of Ronaldo’s Juventus and Real Madrid. Plus, either of the three attackers was found responsible for at least fifty percent of those goals to show how integral they are to the team.

Although judging on individual performance, none of Salah, Mane, and Firmino even came close to matching Ronaldo’s goals tally last campaign.

The Portuguese ace hit the net on 31 occasions last season, to be bettered by only the Golden Boot winner Ciro Immobile in the Serie A goalscoring charts.

Meanwhile, Liverpool is understood to be in the market looking to strengthen their attack, with Wolves’ Adama Traore a popular name linking with a move to the Anfield stadium.

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However, John Barnes believes that Traore will not be guaranteed a starting role in Jurgen Klopp’s set-up given that Salah, Mane, and Firmino remains at the club. He insists that only Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, or Kylian Mbappe could displace the attacking trio.

“Yes – he would fit into the team as long as he doesn’t expect to take over from the front three, which is the big problem for anybody coming into the team,” John Barnes told BonusCodeBets, via Express.

“If they want to come to Liverpool and say, ‘We want to be one of the first players on the team sheet to play ahead of those front three,’ that’s probably not going to happen,” he said.

He then suggests that Traore might not want to be guaranteed a starting spot, given that he’s not Ronaldo, Messi, or Mbappe.

“And I do think that Traore wants to be guaranteed a place, which is unlikely to happen unless you’re Mbappe, Lionel Messi, or Ronaldo,” he added.

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