Latest developments mean Liverpool will be forced to revert back to the drawing board and reevaluate their pursuit of a new left-back this summer.
A handful of players have been identified as potential targets in recent months, but none more so than Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon.
That deal now looks to be out of the picture with Liverpool having pulled out of the race for the teenage starlet, who is now expected to join Tottenham, according to the Liverpool Echo’s Neil Jones.
Sessegnon had been viewed as an ideal recruit to bring in as an initial understudy to James Milner before going on to pose as a long-term servant at left-back.
Liverpool withdrawing their interest was supposedly fuelled by an uncertainty over the 17-year-old’s commitment to a move.
Jurgen Klopp turning his attention towards new targets looks inevitable yet it remains to be seen whether he will look to add a new starting left-back or the kind of backup that Sessegnon would have been.
Though the transfer window has only just opened, the new season could yet see Milner retain his place as the club’s starting left-back and build on what was a relatively solid campaign from the Englishman in an unfamiliar position.
Hull City’s Andrew Robertson has also been subject to strong interest with reports in recent months suggesting a deal was already in place to bring him to Anfield, although those rumours were quickly diffused.
Supposed interest in Gaël Clichy was immediately rubbished whilst the chances of signing Monaco’s highly rated left-back Benjamin Mendy look uncertain given Manchester City’s desire to secure a deal for the Frenchman.
Klopp has some thinking to do.
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