MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - JULY 18: Ezri Konsa #2 of England walks onto the pitch before the FIFA World Cup 2026 Bronze Final between France and England at Miami Stadium on July 18, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Sarah Stier - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Liverpool ended a disappointing 2025-26 season with a thin and unbalanced squad in need of plenty of work in the off-season, and that was before key veterans Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konaté, and Andy Robertson left on free transfers. So far, they’ve only signed promising young Spanish winger Victor Muñoz.
As good a player as Muñoz might be, that’s well short of what’s required and with just a little over two weeks to go until the 2026-27 season kicks off there’s precious little time left for sporting director Richard Hughes to change the narrative surrounding his tenure—a tenure that if it ended today might go down as the worst appointment since Fenway Sports Group took over.
In particular there seems a need to strengthen at centre half, where the departure of Konaté and Joe Gomez picking up an injury in the first game of pre-season highlight a stark reality at the back. So far, though, there have been no reliable suggestions the club is actually exploring a senior centre half signing.
Today, though, Ed Aarons in The Guardian has gone and linked Liverpool with 28-year-old Aston Villa centre half Ezri Konsa. It’s framed as a potential obstacle for Arsenal, said to be concerned William Saliba could miss a significant chunk of the upcoming season with a back injury and with The Gunners said to be hesitant to pay the £60M Villa want for Konsa.
Given the it’s basically a throwaway link and there’s been less than nothing linking the Reds with any senior centre half to date amongst the club-connected journo class we’re not gonna rush to get excited.
Still, Liverpool really, really can’t go into the season with 35-year-old Virgil van Dijk, permanently injured Joe Gomez, and a pair of promising youngsters who spent last season injured in Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni—at least assuming Hughes and upper management aren’t actively seeking to set up head coach Andoni Iraola for failure.