Arne Slot was quizzed about Liverpool's transfer plans for the summer
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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot will hold as press conference this morning
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot will hold as press conference this morning
(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Arne Slots admits the remainder of the season will have no bearing on his transfer plans as he hinted some of his fringe players may seek to leave this summer. The Reds are already focusing on strengthening their squad for the new campaign after securing the Premier League title last month with four games to spare.
Liverpool are set to trigger a release clause of around £30million to take right-back Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen, and have expressed an interest in signing £125m-rated attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz from the Bundesliga side.
The Reds are also front-runners to snare 21-year-old Hungary international left-back Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth, who is expected to be available for a fee in the region of £40m.
READ MORE: Xabi Alonso speaks out on Florian Wirtz future amid Liverpool £125m transfer interestREAD MORE: Liverpool press conference - Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong transfer news, Arne Slot latest
Any moves are likely to be facilitated in part by the exit of squad players who have seen their minutes in the Premier League limited this season.
Darwin Nunez, Federico Chiesa, Harvey Elliott, Caoimhin Kelleher and Kostas Tsimikas are among those to have been linked in recent weeks with interest from other clubs.
The quintet will hope for action at Brighton on Monday with Slot poised to once again rotate his squad.
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But the Reds boss is convinced the final two games - Liverpool finish at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday week - will not alter his future intentions for the squad.
"I don't think it would be fair to any player if you've worked with them for a whole season, you then change your opinion (on them) in the next two games coming up," said Slot.
"Our opinion has been made over 10-11 months. All of them except Federico Chiesa have played longer at this club.
"We know quite well the quality of our players. The games against Brighton and Palace is not to make up or change our minds about last season.
"I've said many times already that we as a club are very happy with the players we have. Some of it is our decision, but in some situations some of the players who have not played a lot are not looking forward to another season of not playing a lot.
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"There is always an ongoing process. We have to make sure we are prepared if we can strengthen our squad. This club has always done that. But it's difficult to strengthen this squad - there's a reason why we won the league as we have so many great players.
"This club has shown so many times in the past they will make the right decisions and we made the right decision last summer to not bring in anyone but Chiesa. That worked out quite well."
Liverpool have identified Frimpong as a replacement for the outgoing Trent Alexander-Arnold to provide competition for Conor Bradley at right-back.
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But when asked about interest in the Holland international, Slot responded: "It's going to be a boring answer. The whole season it was about the contract extensions of three players and now it's about which players we are going to bring in. The answer is the same. We don't talk about players we want to bring in in public until the moment they sign.
"What I can tell you is we already have Conor Bradley who can play really good in that position, Joe Gomez has played there multiple times. It's not like Trent is leaving and I have no clue what to do anymore.
"But in general we are always looking at interesting players who can strengthen our squad."