Liverpool will have their sights set on silverware in 2026, having recovered form under Arne Slot. Retaining the Premier League title may be difficult - Arsenal are ten points clear in first place, but there's little question that the Reds stand a swinging chance in the Champions League and FA Cup.
To achieve their goals, the Anfield side might need to chop and change in the January transfer window, despite a record-breaking summer of spending that exceeded £400m.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot celebrates after the match
FSG are nothing if not ambitious, but they can also be pragmatic, with the decision to press Ibrahima Konate for a new contract one which has divided the fanbase, and for good reason.
The latest on Ibrahima Konate's Liverpool future
Konate has been among Liverpool's poorest players this season. The centre-back has been a key player for Liverpool since joining from RB Leipzig in 2021, but it's fair to say that he's fallen by the wayside this year, so error-strewn and unsure of himself.
Liverpool's need for a new defender is severe, and that's without considering Konate, who has been terrible as he heads toward free agency.
All this being said, the France international has maintained fitness levels throughout the campaign - something that has proved difficult in the past - and he has enjoyed a noticeable uptick in form this month, crucial in establishing Liverpool's stablised run of form.
Ibrahima Konate's Premier League Career
Season
25/26
24/25
23/24
22/23
21/22
Data via Transfermarkt
FSG and sporting director Richard Hughes continue to engage with Konate in regard to a contract extension.
This is polarising, given his abject level for much of the term, but Virgil van Dijk isn't getting any younger, and with Liverpool altogether lacking defensive depth, it's understandable.
ibrahima-konate-liverpool
We will wait and see whether Liverpool tie the hulking defender down to a new and improved deal, but he's not the only one facing an uncertain future at Anfield, with another Slot mainstay at risk of losing his job after a staggering decline this term.
The Liverpool mainstay who could be sold in 2026
Liverpool are a team in transition, with so many new parts redefining Slot's system. It will take time for things to click together - the immensely talented Florian Wirtz is a case in point - but some changes to the central mainframe might be needed, with Alexis Mac Allister joining Konate in potentially leaving.
Liverpool-Mac-Allister
Mac Allister, it should be stressed, is a fantastic footballer, so important since joining from Brighton in 2023. However, he's not dipped but plummeted from form, very much at the rotten core of Liverpool's struggles throughout the campaign.
The drop-off has been shocking. Mac Allister is less mobile, less dynamic. He lacks his command and instinctiveness in the engine room, two key facets of a wide-ranging skillset.
Liverpool Graphic Mac Allister
Too often this season, Liverpool have been easily played through, carved open like a Christmas turkey, pulled apart like cheap crackers. Mac Allister's struggle has been symptomatic of the wider tactical issue, with one content creator even remarking that he "looks like Fabinho in his final year" on Merseyside.
Still, we all know what he's capable of: be it show-stopping finishes, match-winning challenges, defence-splitting passes, Mac Allister has it within his locker, and he was singled out as a "superstar" by pundit Joe Cole for that very reason.
Should Liverpool decide to cash in on the South American in 2026, it would be a contentious decision, to be sure. But Mac Allister has been well below his own standards, and there's no question that suitors are out there, even with Football Transfers valuing him at a whopping £103m.
With reports of interest from Real Madrid floating about this season, as had been the same with Konate before Los Blancos pulled the plug, FSG will have a tough decision on their hands before long.
Arne Slot and Alexis Mac Allister for Liverpool
Preliminary efforts to gauge Mac Allister's stance have already begun, with his £150k-per-week contract into its third-to-last year. He is indeed a 'superstar' of a player, and he would fetch a pretty penny indeed, should Liverpool set their sights on a new midfield lieutenant.
AFC Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo reacts after the match Related
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