Liverpool’s summer was always going to be about the wide areas.
Mohamed Salah’s contract expired on 30 June and nine years came to an end, Andy Robertson departed alongside him, and Hugo Ekitike’s ruptured Achilles removed another attacking option deep into next year.
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Add a change of head coach, with Andoni Iraola replacing Arne Slot after a fifth placed finish, and the rebuild was never going to be small.
Victor Munoz has arrived from Osasuna, but he is expected to operate from the left.
Iraola has been open about what is still missing, telling Sky Sports that his side need one more winger, while carefully declining to frame it as replacing Salah.
Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha are the alternatives, which is not a list to inspire enormous confidence on the right.
That search has taken Liverpool to Brazil more than once, and one name has been circling Anfield since the winter without ever quite landing.
Now somebody else has moved for him.
Allan, the Palmeiras winger, has been the subject of a formal bid from Aston Villa.
Globo Esporte report that the Premier League club offered a package worth 30 million euros, made up of 25 million as a fixed fee and a further five million in guaranteed bonuses, along with a five year contract carrying the option of a sixth.
Palmeiras did not deliberate.
Football director Anderson Barros reportedly told the player’s agent, Paulo Pitombeira, that the club are not willing to negotiate at all.
The position is reportedly rooted in sporting ambition rather than money.
Palmeiras are chasing trophies on several fronts, the board and coaching staff view the 22 year old as central to that, and they believe his value will only climb.
The numbers support them.
Allan has six goals and four assists in 34 appearances across all competitions in 2026, having broken through as a regular starter last season.
He is contracted until 2029, with a release clause reported at around 100 million euros, and Palmeiras have already turned down offers in the same bracket from Napoli.
For Liverpool, the interest was real.
ESPN Brazil’s Andre Hernan reported in May that the Reds had submitted a fresh enquiry, and earlier in the year Brazilian outlets had the deal edging close.
It never progressed, with Palmeiras president Leila Pereira making clear the club had no intention of selling in the mid year window, and Liverpool’s attention has since shifted towards more immediate options.
Villa’s move, prompted by Morgan Rogers’ exit, is a reminder that the queue is forming.
It is also a reminder of the price of waiting.
Anyone returning for Allan later will be negotiating from a considerably weaker position.