The spicy free transfer that could power up Liverpool's attack in 2026placeholder image
The spicy free transfer that could power up Liverpool's attack in 2026 | Getty Images
Liverpool have been linked with a surprising free transfer - but has their supposed target still got top-flight quality?
It’s a detail tucked away at the end of a report concerning a completely different team, but no less important for all that - in a new story concerning Juventus’ likely failure to sign Serge Gnabry at the end of his rapidly-expiring contract, one of the main reasons that he likely won’t be going to Turin is because Liverpool could be his destination instead.
That’s what Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport claim, anyway. Juventus want him, as widely reported, but his wage demands are expected to be too high for a team enduring financial difficulties – and it’s said that “competition from Liverpool” is partly what is forcing his salary up quite so high. After all their record-breaking purchases, it seems as though Liverpool could be about to make their next big attacking signing for free.
That’s one newspaper’s version of events, anyway. But is true, is Gnabry really likely to be on his way to Anfield – and would a player already past 30 still be able to make a real difference in the Premier League?
Is Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry good enough for the Premier League?
Gnabry’s name hasn’t been coming up quite as often as it used to. After hitting at least 10 goals in seven consecutive Bundesliga seasons, Gnabry has had two tough years on the bounce and his name has been up in lights rather less often. Combined with his gradually advancing years, and there’s a growing impression of a talented player sliding past his peak.
Of course, his fallow years had far more to do with fitness problems than they did with his quality as a player. Gnabry was only able to start 18 league matches across two seasons for Bayern, in light of which his combined return of 10 goals seems rather more respectable – and now that he’s seemingly hale and healthy again, he’s back into the starting line-up and scoring freely.
Gnabry has scored four goals in nine Bundesliga games so far this season and added three assists on top of that. He hasn’t been at his most consistent, perhaps, and there have been one or two indifferent performances since the summer, but the stats can only lie to a certain extent – and Gnabry is scoring and creating goals at the fastest rate of his entire career.
This is also a player who appears to be adapting to the ageing process extremely well. He is perhaps losing a little pace with all those injuries, and doesn’t attempt as many spectacular dribbles as he once did as a result, but he’s adjusted his style of play around that, becoming more of a number 10 than a winger, supporting Harry Kane and feasting off his hold-up play rather than tilting at full-backs as he once did. Not that he’s shabby out wide these days – he still comes in off the right wing for the German national team.
The impression of a player past his prime is starting to melt away, and will continue to do so as long as he can stay healthy moving forward. That’s the big question mark over Gnabry, but signing him on a free transfer seems like precisely the sort of gamble that an elite team should be making – when he’s available, he scores goals, in volume, and has both the skill to break defences apart and the versatility to cover multiple positions. But what are the chances that Liverpool do indeed sign him next summer?
Will Liverpool sign Gnabry next year?
Given Gnabry’s fitness issues and age, it had been widely assumed that Bayern would let Gnabry walk at the end of the season, especially with rumours suggesting that he wants a hefty pay packet – something he could well get from a club like Liverpool. It’s possible, of course, that his recent form is causing Bayern to reconsider, but they may not be keen to meet the former Arsenal man’s demands.
Juventus have been linked with consistently for months, but the chances of that deal seem to be fading fast if Gazzetta dello Sport’s reporting is accurate. Juventus are steadily losing money and need to be cautious with their spending over the coming years – if Liverpool are prepared to make a substantive offer to Gnabry, then it could knock the Old Lady out of the running quite easily.
Liverpool had been linked with Gnabry on occasions before the Gazzetta story – which contains no details of Liverpool’s alleged interest, save to say that their presence in the race is killing Juventus’ chances of striking a deal – but this is one of the first major news outlets to make the connection. Further corroboration would be nice to ensure that this isn’t a misreading of the situation, but it would make some sense for Liverpool to be interested.
Liverpool still feel light on depth and quality (or at least players in form) across their attack and Gnabry’s ability to play as a number 10 or on either wing could be invaluable across a long season, especially if the club decide that Federico Chiesa does not have a future at Anfield past this summer – which seems quite probable.
They also have the bank balance to pay the kind of wages that Juventus or Bayern Munich might balk at, and unlike other free-spending sides, like Chelsea, don’t seem overly concerned by a player’s age. Gnabry certainly seems like a player they might take a shine to.
Still, we only have one fleeting mention from an Italian media source to go on for now. It may well be that he is on a shortlist, but that doesn’t mean that a bid ever gets made, and there is an enormous amount that could happen between now and the end of June when Gnabry’s contract expires – Bayern could choose to offer an extension, his form could fall away, or those old fitness issues could resurface.
Gnabry needs a good and healthy year to make a move like this likely – as it stands, it’s an intriguing and believable possibility, but not necessarily a transfer that we would expect to get over the line. But based on the opening weeks of the 2025/26 season, Gnabry still has an awful lot to offer.
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