For the first time in nine years, Liverpool will line up for a brand-new Premier League season without Mo Salah.The Egyptian King departed the club at the end of last season, one year earlier than scheduled, after penning a new two-year deal following the title-winning campaign of 2024/25. However, after a slew of inconsistent performances and some ill-timed controversial interviews and statements, the club mutually agreed an early departure for its third-highest scorer of all time.There can be no denying what Salah achieved at Anfield. He helped the Reds reach three Champions League finals, winning one of them, as well as leading the club to Premier League titles in 2020 and 2025.The former Roma winger cleared 20 goals in all but his final season with the club, while amassing more than 30 in five campaigns. However, the iconic winger will no longer maraud down the right-hand side, and the club hasn’t yet managed to replace its outgoing legend.Liverpool Have Yet To Replace SalahFormer RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande was the original target, but the Ivorian instead opted for a move to Real Madrid. Now, Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola is being linked with a potential arrival, but no agreement between the Reds and the back-to-back European champions has yet been reached.The glaring weakness on Liverpool’s right wing has prompted online betting sites to install the Reds as firm outsiders for the Premier League title this season. The latest online soccer betting odds currently make Andoni Iraola’s men a firm 11/2 third-favourite to claim the crown come next May, with defending champions Arsenal (6/4) and Manchester City (3/1) both considered far more likely champions, but losing a talismanic presence such as Salah’s is by no means a standalone event.Over the years, Liverpool have lost numerous superstars, usually via transfer rather than due to Father Time catching up. How did the club react to those bitter losses? Let’s take a look.Michael Owen In the early 2000s, Michael Owen was arguably the world’s best striker. The Liverpool academy product cleared 20 goals in five of his six fullly fit campaigns at Anfield, with the highlight being 24 goals in 2000/01 as the Reds claimed a famous treble by winning the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and League Cup. Those exploits saw him claim the Ballon d’Or, and a quarter of a century later, he remains the last Englishman to receive the coveted award.By 2004, though, he was beginning to grow disillusioned with life at Anfield. Real Madrid made their interest in signing him clear, and when new Reds boss Rafael Benitez flew out to Portugal and proceeded to critique each of Owen, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, rather than begging them to stay at the club, the striker decided that his future lay away from Anfield. Owen headed to Real Madrid, and Liverpool were left to pick up the pieces.(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)Frenchman Djibril Cisse was brought in to replace the club’s former talisman, while Czech striker Milan Baros was tasked with firing the goals that Liverpool needed if they were to compete. Midway through the 2004/05 season, Fernando Morientes arrived from Real Madrid, but neither he nor Cisse ever truly delivered, with Baros top-scoring with a respectable 13 goals.While Liverpool never managed to replace Owen’s output, they did somehow pull off the unthinkable. Despite finishing fifth in the Premier League, the exploits of captain Steven Gerrard and Spanish additions Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia saw the Reds perform heroics on the continental stage. They knocked out both Juventus and Chelsea to reach the Champions League final, before then going on to rally from three goals down against AC Milan to somehow win on penalties in Istanbul.Fernando Torres Two years on from Liverpool’s Miracle of Istanbul, the club finally swooped for a proven goalscorer when they signed Atletico Madrid captain and Spain international Fernando Torres for £20m.The addition was a statement of intent to the rest of the Premier League, and after reaching two Champions League finals in the previous three seasons, it was finally time for the Reds to challenge to become kings of England once again.(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)Torres became the best striker on the planet throughout his first two years with the club, netting 50 goals throughout those two campaigns and scoring the winner in the Euro 2008 final to hand Spain their first trophy in 44 years. However, silverware with Liverpool would never arrive, and when injuries began to take their toll before, during and after the 2010 World Cup, he suddenly lost that electricity which made him one of the planet’s most feared hitmen.He departed for Chelsea in January 2011, with the Blues paying £50m to secure his services. The Reds acted quickly, signing Luis Suarez from Ajax and unproven target man Andy Carroll from Newcastle. While the latter of that duo turned out to be a disappointment, the former certainly didn’t.Suarez became the best striker in the world at Anfield, leading the club to the brink of a shock title success in 2014 after his blistering form saw him rack up 31 goals in 33 top-flight games. Then, he too would depart, with Barcelona stumping up £75m to make the Uruguayan the third most expensive player in history at the time behind Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.The post How Have Liverpool Fared in the Immediate Aftermath of Losing a Talisman? appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.