Liverpool are spending freely this summer - but who might they sell to fund their record transfer window?
Liverpool are currently in the process of compiling what promises to be one of the most expensive transfer windows in Premier League history – but with the spectre of profit and sustainability rules always looming large, will they have to start selling players to make ends meet?
That’s one of the reasons that the Anfield outfit are considering the sale of young centre-back Jarell Quansah, most likely to Bayer Leverkusen, but he isn’t the only first-team player who could easily be on the move as Arne Slot undergoes an extensive rebuild before mounting their defence of the league title.
We’ve identified eight more players, many of them regular starters, who could easily be on their way over the coming months in order to fund a transfer window which has already seen Liverpool agree the signing of Florian Wirtz (potentially for a British record £116m fee) and Jeremie Frimpong, and which is likely to see Milos Kerkez follow along with a striker and a new centre-half. That’s a lot of cash going out, so how much will Liverpool need to raise?
Darwin Núñez
Let’s start with one of the players who’s especially likely to leave this summer – Liverpool seem to have grown tired of waiting for Darwin to find his feet in the Premier League and appear happy to let another club take a chance on the gifted but wildly inconsistent striker.
Given that he was the most expensive signing in club history prior to the purchase of Wirtz, the deal for Darwin has to go down as one of the worst that Liverpool have made. Still, a reported move to Napoli worth up to £60m would pay back most of the £85m they spent in the first place. The only question now is whether the Italian champions will meet the asking price. Saudi Arabian sides are said to be keen if they don’t.
Cody Gakpo
One name you won’t see in this list is Luis Díaz – despite numerous rumours to the contrary, it’s starting to look very probable that the Colombian winger will stay put for another year. His positional rival Gakpo, however, could just be on the way out.
Not that Liverpool are in any hurry to sell, but he’s been reported to be on Bayern Munich’s shortlist after the Bavarian giants missed out on Nico Williams. There are plenty of other left-sided forwards on their radar, so it’s not guaranteed that a bid comes in, but Liverpool would likely be prepared to part with the Dutchman for the right sum.
Andrew Robertson
With Kerkez on the way in, it looks as though Slot thinks it’s time to put Robertson out to pasture after a season in which his performances started to gently tail off for the first time in a storied career.
It looks as though Atlético Madrid are primed to make a bid, but other clubs may come in if that deal happens to fall through. Either way, it looks very likely that Robertson will be playing away from Anfield next season with Kerkez set to take his starting role.
Kostas Tsimikas
Conversely, Liverpool could easily find themselves in need of two left-backs this summer if they find someone to take Greece international Tsimikas off their hands. The defenders seems tired of warming the bench, and his agent appears to have been shopping him around.
Publicly, Tsimikas has told the media that he’s happy at Anfield, but privately there is talk of a number of potential suitors including Leeds United, who are seeking a replacement for Junior Firpo. Don’t be surprised if both left-backs in the squad are gone come September.
Alisson
In signing Georgian goalkeeper Giorgio Mamardashvili last summer, Liverpool simultaneously bought one of the best young goalkeepers in Europe and gave themselves a colossal headache – they’re set to have two top-level shot-stoppers on the books at the same time.
It’s possible that Mamardashvili is loaned back to Valencia for one more year to solve the problem, but there’s a point at which persistently doing so makes the £25m transfer fee they’ve already paid a colossal waste of money. Saudi sides are said to be keeping tabs on the 32-year-old Alisson, and Slot has a major decision to make over the next couple of months.
Ibrahima Konaté
Talk of a move abroad – perhaps to PSG – seems to have cooled very slightly in recent weeks, but the fact remains that the French defender only has one year left on his contract, and if Liverpool want to avoid a repeat of the situation which saw them lose Trent Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer and nearly lose Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk at the same time, they need to act.
That either means tying the centre-back down to a new extension or finding a buyer to cash in while they can. Losing both Quansah and Konaté in the same window would put a lot of pressure on their ability to recruit the right defenders, but it looks like a very possibility.
Ben Doak
The gifted Scottish winger has been receiving overtures from several sides – prominently Crystal Palace and Everton – for a solid year now. Last summer, reports suggested that Liverpool wanted £25m for him but he ended up going out on loan to Middlesbrough instead.
This year, transfer chatter has only intensified. He’s already become something of a talisman for his national side and has plenty of potential, but with Salah barring his way towards more first-team minutes, the youngster may be happy to move in order to play more football, while Liverpool could be content to sell.
Harvey Elliott
Elliott never made any public show of any frustration that he endured while spending most of last season glued to the bench, but Slot never seemed to find a role for the former Fulham youngster in his system or to warm to him as Jürgen Klopp once had.
Surely too gifted to be a back-up, the versatile midfielder-cum-winger has been tentatively linked with Newcastle United (among other teams), but no decision on his future seems to have been made. One to watch.
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