As we enter August, Liverpool are the only Premier League team yet to make a signing this transfer window.
The Reds are beginning a new era. Jurgen Klopp has left his position as manager, and the club have implemented a new structure.
In as head coach is Arne Slot, with Richard Hughes taking up the sporting director position. His predecessors, Michael Edwards and Julian Ward, are now fronting FSG’s other footballing operations but are still naturally also directly involved in the club. Their re-hiring is billed as ‘back to the future’ as FSG move toward a multi-club model with two familiar and trusted faces.
There has been some fan frustration over their inactivity in terms of adding to the playing squad, but inside Liverpool things remain calm and meticulously planned.
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90min understands there are a number of reasons behind Liverpool’s inactivity in the incomings column.
As sporting director, Hughes has led on player recruitment, but his planned start date was always set for the summer even though he worked on Slot’s appointment earlier. Hughes agreed to join Liverpool from Bournemouth early in 2024 and was placed on gardening leave – he was granted permission to lead the Reds’ search for a Klopp successor, but couldn’t really get involved with transfers until the end of the season.
Other senior recruitment figures in Dave Fallows, head of recruitment and scouting, and Barry Hunter, head of scouting, have proven important in planning for this window, but there were some unknowns making it an atypical build-up to this summer. Luckily, both are trusted and viewed as a formidable partnership in the industry.
Head coach Slot has spent the last month or so assessing his squad, undertaking a natural period of reflection. He said himself during Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the US it would be a surprise if their drought in the transfer market continues for much longer.
But ultimately, Liverpool are a club who would rather be judged at the end of a window rather than during or comparatively to rival clubs. They operate in a poised and discreet manner and always try to ignore the noise.
Though Liverpool are always looking at ways to improve the team, 90min understands they are determined to keep their current crop of key players.
The Reds, in an ideal world, will keep the likes of Alisson, Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz for the coming season.
Club captain Virgil van Dijk and vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold, however, have had their futures called into question from the outside with less than 12 months left to run on their respective deals. Liverpool are not worried about their imminent situations, but nonetheless would like to know if they are committed for the coming season. Talks are ongoing with the duo over their futures, and in the case of Alexander-Arnold, his position in the team moving forward. How Slot uses and enthuses him will be key to a contract extension and fending off any Real Madrid interest in windows to come.
It’s understood Slot and the recruitment team’s priority was to ensure they weren’t caught blindsided by exits or their core group wanting to leave, giving them the information they need to decide on who they should target and the budgets they have to work with.
Over the last couple of summers, Salah has been a key target for the Saudi Pro League. But once again, 90min understands Liverpool believe he will still be at the club come the close of the transfer window.
Similarly, Alisson has been linked with a move to the Middle East, though he too is expected to stay at Anfield. Al Ittihad and Al Nassr, two clubs looking for goalkeepers this summer, only ever approached Manchester City’s Ederson, and Saudi dealmakers have always felt Alisson is not attainable this summer.
There is also surprise interest from Saudi Arabia in one of Liverpool’s stars of tomorrow – highly rated winger Ben Doak. The 18-year-old was expected to feature more prominently during Klopp’s final season, but his campaign was quickly derailed by a knee injury which required surgery.
The Saudi Pro League, and Al Nassr in particular, like the idea of loaning Doak. Not only would they be securing one of the Premier League’s top young talents, but they would draw the attention of Liverpool fans all over the world hoping to get glimpses of his progress. The foreign-player quotas in the Saudi Pro League also now allow for two extra players aged 21 or under, so there is a bigger focus on youth than 12 months ago.
Though Liverpool respect the Saudi Pro League and their project, they don’t believe such a move for Doak makes much sense, factoring in the cultural and climate differences, late kick-off times and language barriers. When Liverpool loan a player out, they factor in not just standard and coaching but facilities and culture. That’s why Leicester City and Southampton are currently frontrunners.
Elsewhere, Liverpool have already received bids for Wataru Endo – £11.8m from Marseille – and Sepp van den Berg – £10m from PSV Eindhoven. Both offers fell well short of their valuations for the respective players, though.
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Sources have told 90min there is indeed a preferred profile that Liverpool are targeting this summer, with players aged 25 and under preferable.
There are two main positions which Liverpool are hoping to strengthen in – a wide forward and centre-back are their priorities. If Endo is sold, then a defensive midfielder will come onto the agenda.
At centre-back, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Willian Pacho remains under consideration, though 90min understands links to Bayer Leverkusen’s Piero Hincapie are wide of the mark.
As previously reported by 90min, Levi Colwill has many admirers at Liverpool, but the club respect Chelsea’s stance – he is untouchable at this time, and unlike Bayern Munich, an approach has not been made this summer to the player’s camp or to the Blues.
Liverpool had been among the elite clubs interested in Leny Yoro, who recently signed for Manchester United from Lille for an initial £52.2m fee and one that could yet reach £58.9m.
The Reds’ pitch to Yoro was based on his huge promise and potential, building their case around his potential to become a generational talent within three seasons. They didn’t want to over-promise anything to the 18-year-old immediately and felt it would be unfair to weigh such expectation on his shoulders from the off. Liverpool rarely over-promise since they believe offering up genuine and patient pathways is best, and historically they try to buy before it becomes needs-must, meaning young players have a transitional period before they are perhaps required to play a heavier number of minutes.
United, on the other hand, were happy to match Lille’s demands, a clever tactic since it put pressure on Real Madrid to rival their bid and tempted the player into a move. His arrival at Old Trafford was celebrated, but this is not necessarily an approach that can be done too frequently, otherwise clubs can be left with a dressing room of stars who feel the pitch and the reality don’t match.
Liverpool’s model isn’t so rigid they don’t occasionally pay more than they want. We saw this last summer with their surprise £111m bid for Moises Caicedo, only for the midfielder to hold out for Chelsea. Nearly £150m was spent on four players last summer in the end though – Liverpool spend, but they look for value.
Out wide, Liverpool aren’t only concocting a Salah succession plan, but they are also profiling players who can play on the left. Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Pedro Neto has been tipped as a target, but 90min understands he is more likely to join Tottenham Hotspur if he leaves Molineux this summer.
One name to keep an eye on is Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze, who can play on both flanks and in midfield, while he is available for a fee in the region of £60m – the value of his release clause – and is seen as a realistic target.
If Endo needs replacing, then Atalanta’s Ederson has been discussed. However, a deal is not as advanced as has been suggested in the Italian press recently. Brazil international Joao Gomes is another name on the shortlist despite Wolves’ preference to keep him.
Liverpool’s new era is yet to get underway in the transfer market, but patience remains a virtue preached from top to bottom at the club. Their decision-makers are not panicking and just because there appear to be lulls, it doesn’t mean hard work isn’t taking place behind the scenes that could well lead to a productive August.
