Liverpool have a squad which is the envy of all but the very richest of football clubs, yet as their meek defeat by Atalanta on Wednesday night displayed, even the top teams can improve on what they have. The Reds are struggling with numerous injuries and have a game every three days at the moment, and the loss to the Serie A side has left fans and pundits wondering if Liverpool need an injection of fresh blood in January. Express Sport has all the latest.
Reds open discussions with Ajax
Liverpool may have suffered only their 12th home defeat in the European Cup or Champions League on Wednesday, but their European fate is still in their hands. They welcome Ajax to Anfield next week, and all eyes will be on their centre-back Perr Schuurs.
There have been rumours that he has captured the Reds’ interest circulating for a while, but Liverpool have now made their interest concrete.
According to Corriere dello Sport negotiations have begun between the clubs as the Reds look to add the 21-year-old to their squad in January.
They have reportedly opened the bidding at around €30m, so let’s see if that’s enough to convince the Dutch side to do business.
Ferdinand makes strange transfer claim
It looked incredibly likely that Timo Werner was going to join Liverpool this summer. He spoke warmly of the club, Jurgen Klopp reciprocated, and it looked a certainly to happen.
Yet the Reds pulled out of the move, citing financial concerns, and Werner joined Chelsea instead. And speaking on BT Sport last night, Rio Ferdinand wondered aloud regarding the legitimacy of the stories.
“I probably question whether they really were in for Werner,” he said. “Because Jota came around quite quickly after that and they all seemed very happy with that.”
With the way Jota has hit the ground running, no wonder everybody at Anfield is happy.
Freebie to fill the gap
During Jurgen Klopp’s first season on Merseyside, Liverpool brought in Steven Caulker on loan as emergency cover.
While the club now has a much more organised and methodical approach to their transfer business, they could be about to complete a similar deal.
Veteran Argentine centre-back Ezequiel Garay – who has played for Real Madrid and was most recently with Valencia – is currently without a club and has been offered to Liverpool.
That’s according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano on his podcast (and as reported by Goal), so maybe he’ll be tweeting ‘here we go’ before we know it?
Player exits to generate income?
Liverpool might be without eight first-team players at present, but they can’t keep adding to their squad in January as the missing men will all return eventually.
And letting a few players go would also raise funds to put towards future transfers too. Rumour has it that two men who could be heading for the Anfield exit door are Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri.
The Swiss international has frequently been absent with injury, though he has made some important contributions at times this season. As for cult hero Origi, he has failed to impress when given a chance in Klopp’s XI recently.
It’s believed the pair could raise somewhere in the region of £30 million. Don’t spend it all at once, Jurgen.
