Liverpool appear to be falling behind in the race to sign Jamal Musiala, with Florian Plettenberg revealing why a move to Manchester City appears far more likely if the star is to leave Bayern Munich.

The Merseysiders are facing up to the near-impossible task of having to replace Mohamed Salah next summer with rumours of a move to Saudi Arabia refusing to go away. The Egyptian star - who has blasted in 194 goals in 316 games for Liverpool - will likely be the subject of a fresh PS150m offer from Al-Ittihad - and with just a year left on his deal come the summer, many suspect the Reds will have little choice but to accept.

As such, and perhaps behind the scenes, the quest to find Salah's successor is already underway - or at least under some serious consideration - at Anfield.

Several names have already been mentioned, with Federico Chiesa and Leroy Sane among those strongly mentioned. Sane certainly offers a strong goal threat off the wing, though any approach to lure him to Anfield from Bayern Munich would cost serious money.

Another option, though, is Victor Osimhen, who, although not a direct replacement, could certainly bring in some goals, albeit from a more central position. To that end, multiple reports suggest Liverpool already have a deal in place to sign the Nigerian.

However, another quality name has emerged in recent days in Germany international Musiala. The 20-year-old, who represented England at youth level before changing allegiances to Germany, the country of his birth, is regarded as one of the Bundesliga's outstanding young talents.

Despite his tender years, he has already clocked up some 25 caps for his country and 135 games for Bayern, where he has scored 33 times.

Jamal Musiala unlikely to join Liverpool but could move to Man City Any deal would not come cheap, though the Reds' prospects of a deal have been boosted in recent weeks amid claims the star is seeking a payrise on his current PS86,000 a week terms and is also frustrated by his amount of playing time at the Allianz Arena under Thomas Tuchel.

As a result, it has been claimed that Liverpool are doing their due dilligence around a possible deal and are looking into the prospect of bringing the 20-year-old - who spent time as a teenager in the academies of both Southampton and Chelsea - back to England.

However, those suggestions have quickly been dampened by Sky Deutschland reporter Florian Plettenberg.

Posting on his X account, Plettenberg claims it is highly unlikely that Musiala will leave Bayern Munich any time soon. And he claims that, were that to happen, Liverpool's chances of signing him would be bleak.

However, Plettenberg does not entirely rule out a move away altogether for Musiala and claims both Manchester City - also linked with the player in recent days - as well as Real Madrid could prove options.

Plettenberg wrote: "Jamal Musiala is currently not thinking about leaving FC Bayern. Liverpool is monitoring him as a possible top replacement for Salah in 2024. But his move to LFC is absolutely unlikely. If he really would leave Bayern in the next years there are the only two realistic options for him: Real Madrid & Man City!"

Bayern not worried over Musiala future As it stands, however, Bayern are not thought to be concerned that an exit could occur any time soon. City are well blessed for attackers, having signed Jeremy Doku over the summer and adding the jet-heeled Belgian to their options that already include both Phil Foden and Jack Grealish.

Real, meanwhile, are likely to put their focus on signing Kylian Mbappe, who looks likely to move to the Bernabeu at the culmination of his PSG deal next summer. Although a free transfer, Mbappe's wages and signing-on fees alone would tear a massive hole in Los Blancos' finances, deeming a move for Musiala highly unlikely.

His curent deal at the Allianz Arena is not due to expire until summer 2026, giving Bayern amble time to negotiate an extension and likely payrise for the 20-year-old superstar.

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