With an agreement in place, Liverpool must spend more than necessary to replace Mohamed Salah.

Liverpool will now have to spend more if they want to secure a possible Mohamed Salah successor.

Liverpool have recently suffered a setback in their pursuit of West Ham player Jarrod Bowen, who was reportedly thought of as a long-term Mohamed Salah successor. On Sunday, the England international agreed to a new deal with David Moyes’ team, putting any future bids by the Reds to recruit the winger subject to a higher fee.

Bowen has pledged his future to West Ham till the year 2030, according to the club’s announcement of the news of his contract on Sunday. With five goals in eight Premier League games, the 26-year-old has carried over his remarkable form from last season, when the Hammers won the Europa Conference League, into the current one.

Liverpool have a long-standing interest in Bowen, who would have been thought of as Salah’s replacement should Saudi Arabia again approach Liverpool about signing him. The Reds may have believed that Bowen might have been acquired at a fair price before the next season, before a new contract was agreed upon, because he was entering the final two years of his term.

A new contract for Bowen doesn’t necessarily rule out a move to Anfield, but he’ll almost probably cost more than Liverpool had anticipated, especially given that he signed a six-and-a-half-year deal with West Ham.

Even Reds manager Jurgen Klopp, who referred to Bowen, 26, as “unbelievable” last season, appears to have given the move the go-ahead. What a player Bowen developed into! Unreal,” said Klopp in March. He was pretty good at the time when we saw him at Hull, too. I doubt many people anticipated this leap, but what a player.

If Liverpool were to allow Salah to eventually follow the exodus to Saudi Arabia, they would have plenty of offensive firepower in the forward positions, but they lack a right-wing specialist who could easily fill in.

Michael Emenalo, the director of football for the Saudi Pro League, has hinted that a transfer may happen in the future, which has dealt Liverpool a blow about a prospective replacement.

“If it didn’t happen, it’s not because we no longer fancy the player or because we have a problem with Liverpool,” Emenalo told Sky Sports. “It’s because certain things that need to align for all the parties involved in the process didn’t align.

“Nobody is angry, we move on. But we absolutely close no doors. And if the opportunity is there to do things and do it well, and it brings Mohamed Salah to the Saudi Pro League, we’ll all be very grateful.”