Liverpool are set for a summer of change despite Arne Slot’s impressive first season in charge of the Anfield outfit.
The Liverpool manager managed to bring the Premier League title back to Merseyside at the first time of asking and is gearing his team up to retain the title again next season.
Jeremie Frimpong’s Anfield switch has been confirmed, and with the move for Florian Wirtz now moving into the final stages, the Reds look set to be a force to be reckoned with next season.
Photo by ANP via Getty Images
Photo by ANP via Getty Images
Indeed, the moves for each of these players will have taken a hefty chunk of change out of Slot’s summer war chest, but with the future of several first-team players still up in the air, they could easily build it back up.
Guillem Balague doesn’t think Barcelona will be able to afford Luis Diaz this summer
Luis Diaz is one of the main players to have been linked with an Anfield exit this season, and at the moment, it feels like he’s more out than in, especially after he admitted that he and his agent were talking to clubs about a move away from Liverpool.
Barcelona are the ones who have been the most heavily linked with a move for the 28-year-old, but speaking on the BBC’s Football Daily Podcast, Guillem Balague doesn’t think the La Liga giants will have the funds required to seal a deal.
“He has put himself in the frame of a possible transfer, and he has a decision to make,” he said.
“He has two years left on his contract and Liverpool have no interest in selling him, but they also have no interest in renewing his contract at the moment.
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“Diaz’s agent is friends with Deco – Barcelona’s sporting director – and Barca really like Diaz because they are looking for a left-winger.
“They haven’t made an offer yet, but they are likely to bid 40-60million euros. Liverpool will point out that Bruno Fernandes was going to go for £100m, so they expect the same if they are going to sell him.
“Barcelona don’t have that money and, at the moment, they don’t know if they can even raise that money because of the financial approvals needed. It would be a puzzle for them to even get the 60m euros.
“I think it would be impossible for them.”
Liverpool must focus on selling other players this summer
With Diaz not wanting to move to Saudi Arabia and Barcelona unlikely to have the funds available to strike a deal with Liverpool, it feels like the Reds’ attention needs to be turned elsewhere.
Liverpool look like they’re going to spend a massive amount of money this summer, with Wirtz’s transfer set to break the Merseyside outfit’s transfer record.
Even though the Reds may be in a good financial position where they can splash the cash, they’ll still need to figure out a way to recoup some of the money they spend.
Players such as Jarell Quansah have been linked with Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, while others, such as Darwin Nunez, have had interest shown in them from Saudi Arabia.
Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
But, unless Liverpool pursue deals to sell some of their talent, they could end up in a rather horrible position for next season.
Indeed, only time will tell what Slot and Richard Hughes have in store for the rest of the summer, but at the moment, it’s gearing up to be one of their best in recent memory.