Liverpool take concrete steps for Trincao as the Salah replacement search narrows
Liverpool are no longer just watching Francisco Trincao. According to reports out of Lisbon on Monday, the Anfield club has taken what one source called "concrete steps" toward a summer move for the Sporting CP winger, with Chelsea also tracking the same player.
Trincao's release clause is the headline number: a reported €60 million (around £50 million), set out in the contract he signed at Sporting until 2030. That figure looked steep when the deal was inked, but a 17 goal-contribution league season has narrowed the gap between price and value: six goals and 11 assists in 29 Liga Portugal appearances.
The Salah question
The timing tells you most of what you need to know. Liverpool confirmed in March that Mohamed Salah will leave at the end of the season, ending a nine-year run at Anfield and walking away as a free agent. The 33-year-old had a year left on his contract, but a difficult season and a public fallout with head coach Arne Slot brought the early exit. Liverpool now have a right-wing-shaped hole and a chunk of wage budget freed up by the most expensive earner walking out the door.
Trincao fits the brief on paper. He plays primarily on the right and can cut inside to finish on his left, with enough versatility to slide centrally when the system asks for it. He is 26, in form, and at a club that has built a recent habit of selling its best forwards to the Premier League.
From Wolves washout to Lisbon revival
It's the second wave of Trincao's career and it has been a long time coming. Wolves took him on loan from Barcelona in 2021-22, and the stint went nowhere. Sporting picked him up the following summer with a buy obligation built into the loan, and there were genuine doubts at the time about whether he would recover. The 2025-26 campaign has answered them. Ruben Amorim's departure to Manchester United in November 2024 did not unsettle him, and the new Sporting staff have built a chunk of their attacking output through him.
What Liverpool will be eyeing is the consistency. Trincao has scored or assisted in more than half of his league outings this season. That is not the volume of a Salah at his peak, but as a 26-year-old right-sided forward with several years still ahead and a release clause that is moveable, he is on a different value curve.
Where Chelsea fits in
Chelsea's interest complicates things. The Stamford Bridge recruitment team has been linked with Trincao for several windows and has the financial flexibility to match the release clause if it wants to. Liverpool's edge for now is intent: the "concrete steps" wording, reported by multiple outlets in Portugal, suggests the Reds are further along than scouting calls and agent enquiries.
If Liverpool move first and trigger the €60 million, the deal can be closed quickly. Release clauses in Portuguese contracts are designed to be a yes-or-no decision, not a negotiation. The question is whether Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes see Trincao as the headline right-winger or as one option in a wider rebuild that may also pull in Yan Diomande, Bradley Barcola or Maghnes Akliouche, all of whom remain on the Liverpool list.
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