Liverpool’s front three will go down as one of the greatest trios in English football history, and certainly the best in the Premier League’s relatively short history.

Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané blended together almost instantly, with Salah being the last to arrive to complete the puzzle.

But there would always come a time when the trio – like all great partnerships – would eventually break up, and they would leave Anfield one by one.

That moment is now on the horizon, and it’s far from impossible that one of them will be sold out this summer. Firmino, given his lack of playing time this season, could be the first to go.

Liverpool, like all good clubs, must look to the future, and Nice striker Amine Gouiri, valued at just over £40m by Transfermarkt, could represent that future.

The 21-year-old has been thriving in the southern France squad since arriving from Lyon in the summer of 2020.

Gouiri scored 12 goals and provided seven assists in his debut season in the French top flight last term. He followed that up with nine games in 12 this season, awarding six more to his teammates. Every time he has scored or assisted this season, Nice haven’t lost.

In the latest episode of the Analyzing Anfield podcast, Josh Williams and David Hughes discussed whether Gouiri could be a potential signing for Liverpool in the post-Firmino world.

“At Nice he’s starting to show the ability, alongside the potential, which has always been there,” Williams said. “He’s a bit like a striker/attacking midfielder hybrid, a bit like Firmino, in a way. He also played on the left.

“He’s likely to be attainable for any club, given he’s at Nice, and he’ll have two years left on his contract by the summer, so there’s potential for a move there. -low given the potential it shows.

“He is very good with the ball: dynamic, creative, he ranks well against other strikers in Europe for his ball grips, his touches, his dribbling, his runs.

“He’s a really interesting striker,” Hughes said. “He seems to be doing a lot more in terms of production recently.”

With French sides struggling financially due to the double whammy of the pandemic and the collapse of their domestic television rights deal, Liverpool could sign Gouiri on a cut-price deal this summer, with Nice likely desperately need money.

Gouiri propelled Nice into second place in the Ligue 1 table, but they are eight points behind perennial behemoths Paris Saint-Germain, who are also one game short.

However, if Nice somehow overcome their wealthy title contenders and win Ligue 1, Gouiri’s value would likely skyrocket as a result.

It will be interesting to see how Gouiri develops over the next six months, and if Liverpool decide to offload Firmino, then Gouiri could be one of the more low-key names on the replacement list.

And if Liverpool decide to move on and buy him, then their next Firmino could be set for the next decade.