Liverpool are almost certain to be a very different team by the time next season rolls around.
The Reds are already being linked with a host of potential new signings for the summer transfer window. Midfield seems to be the area where most of the rumours are focused, but whether any of them will actually end up happening, though, is another matter.
It’s not just incomings that are the topic of discussion, with potential departures also doing rounds on the Liverpool rumour mill. The Reds could see some of their current midfield options depart on free transfers.
It’s not just incomings that are the topic of discussion, with potential departures also doing rounds on the Liverpool rumour mill. The Reds could see some of their current midfield options depart on free transfers.
Liverpool currently have three players whose contracts expire in the summer – Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner. While Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain seem almost certain to leave for nothing, there have been rumours that Klopp is keen to hand Milner another one-year extension.
Back to incomings, and the names that are doing the rounds the most in terms of speculation over a move to Liverpool are Jude Bellingham and Mason Mount. Bellingham is well known to be the Reds’ number one target for the summer, while Mount’s name keeps surfacing over a possible addition to Klopp’s squad.
Signing Bellingham would certainly be a dream for Klopp and Liverpool – but Borussia Dortmund are likely to demand a fee in excess of £100m for his services.
Mount is reportedly likely to leave Chelsea this summer due to talks over an extension stalling. With his current deal set to expire at the end of next season, Liverpool may well look to capitalise on the situation and get a cut-price deal.
Another midfielder linked with Liverpool is Wolves star Matheus Nunes. The 24-year-old was credited as a possible target for the Reds last summer before he left Sporting CP in a £44m deal.
Nunes is known to be a player of interest to Liverpool, but it remains to be seen whether a deal will be completed. Especially as the Reds’ priority will be getting a deal for Bellingham over the line.
But in a dream situation, Klopp would have Bellingham, Mount and Nunes in his midfield options for the 2023/24 season. And that’s not to mention the other players the Kop boss has at his disposal.
Unless something rather unexpected happens, Liverpool would have Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara and Jordan Henderson still involved as the more experienced players in the midfield, not to mention Milner if he ends up staying for another year.
And let’s not forget, Liverpool have some young talent which they still hope to have long careers at Anfield. Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones will have had another year under their belts in the Reds’ first-team, while Stefan Bajcetic’s rise from youth prospect to first-team regular since the New Year has added another option to Klopp’s midfield.
Liverpool’s dream midfield options for 2023/24: Jude Bellingham, Mason Mount, Matheus Nunes, Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara, Jordan Henderson, Harvey Elliott, Stefan Bajcetic, Curtis Jones, James Milner.
Steven Gerrard just warned Liverpool about $123m Harry Kane move that could alter Premier League
Back in the summer of 2021, Liverpool fans fretted as Manchester City pursued Harry Kane.
The combination of the Premier League’s deadliest marksman and its most creative team could be devastating, resulting in a strike rate not too dissimilar to that of Erling Haaland this season.
Spurs, however, held firm, rejecting a $123m (£100m/€114m) proposal and refusing to buckle as Kane delayed his return for pre-season training (via The Athletic).
In late August, Kane would issue a statement declaring that he would be staying at the club.
Three months later, after Nuno’s grim tenure probably sharpened Kane’s regret, Spurs appointed Antonio Conte.
The capture of the Italian, a five-time title-winner and one of the best managers in the world, was regarded as a coup.
And the optimism initially proved to be justified as Conte’s side rallied to beat its fiercest rival Arsenal to fourth place.
It seemed as if the Italian could finally make Tottenham a serious outfit, or rather make them ‘un-Spursy’. With an impressive $212m (£172m/€196m) summer spending spree behind it, it seemed to be on the road to contending for the major honors that the trophy-less Kane must desperately crave.
The Athletic reported in August that Kane was ‘happier at Tottenham than he has been for years’, energized by the Conte project. There was even said to be a chance that he could sign a new contract and put the speculation around his future to bed.
But Spurs’ momentum quickly dissipated, and Conte’s ultimate sacking over the weekend has left optimism levels at the club lower than ever.
It has tried the long-term approach with Mauricio Pochettino, and the short-term, win-now strategy with José Mourinho and Conte, and it is no closer to being a contender.
In fact, it’s further away. Under Pochettino, Spurs achieved four straight top-four finishes, but should it miss out to Liverpool or Newcastle this year, it will one be in the four years years since his sacking.
It doesn’t feel like there’s any real prospect of the Lilywhites bridging the gap to the very best teams, and should they seek a reunion with Pochettino in the summer, the sense of an unbreakable cycle will only be heightened.
All of this may prompt Kane to push for the exit door once again.
“He’s got a big decision to make career-wise,” Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard told Channel 4 last Sunday (via BBC Sport), hours before Conte’s dismissal was confirmed.
“I’ve been there myself, where you’re thinking ‘is my team good enough to get me the medals?’ ‘Am I going to get out my career what I want to get?’”
Right now, the answer to those last two questions from Gerrard looks like a resounding ‘no’. And so, there’s currently no sign of the 29-year-old, who’s a little short on time at this point, signing an extension to the Spurs deal that expires in 2024 (via The Telegraph).
This time Kane has more leverage, with the possibility of a free-transfer exit surely looming large in Tottenham’s thinking. But where could he go?
The door at Manchester City is closed following the arrival of Haaland, but Bayern Munich, which still has a Robert Lewandowski-shaped hole to fill, is reportedly keen (via Sky Sports).
Another contender is Manchester United, set to enter the market for the elite, specialist number nine it has been missing.
The Telegraph reported last month that the Red Devils had set aside $123m to move for either Kane or Napoli’s Victor Osimhen this summer.
Acquiring Kane, a three-time Golden Boot winner, one of three members of the Premier League 200-club and arguably the most complete striker in the world, would surely be the perfect way for Manchester United’s prospective new owners to announce themselves.
And it’s a move that could have major ramifications for Liverpool, which expects to re-establish itself as a Premier League frontrunner with its summer acquisitions.
It may not just be Manchester City and Arsenal that stands in its way, because, with Kane on board, Manchester United could enter the equation too. Gerrard’s warning of sorts coming to pass would undoubtedly make Liverpool’s task harder.
Indeed, events in North London might just have played perfectly into the hands of the Reds’ greatest rival.