Liverpool are reportedly set to put a handful of players in the shop window ahead of the opening of the January transfer window, including midfield duo Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita.
This claim comes courtesy of Calciomercato with the Reds no doubt more than aware of the fact that both options’ contracts are set to expire in 2023.
The Merseysiders will no doubt need to conduct some sales in order to finance a big move for a top midfield target – prime amongst them being Borussia Dortmund’s teenage prodigy Jude Bellingham.
Before we get into the nitty gritty of transfer races and whatnot, the upcoming World Cup will provide a welcome break for many (not least of all the Anfield-based outfit’s medical department).
You can prepare your world cup here and get right into the spirit of international football with all your predictions ahead of time. Could, for instance, Darwin Nunez be a dark horse for the golden boot?
To what extent funds raised will determine a signing of such magnitude remains unclear given that the Reds failed to land a quality midfielder in the prior summer window.
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It’s worth considering, too, that should all three of James Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita be allowed to part ways with us in 2023, we’ll be down three midfielders (albeit two somewhat intensely injury-prone members of the squad).
Given our struggles in this department throughout the 2022/23 campaign so far, we’d be unwise to not secure AT LEAST two additions to plump up the squad.
Dortmund are said to value their top talent at €150m, as things currently stand, though a positive World Cup campaign could boost that price-tag considerably.
The question remains as to whether the club could afford a further midfield transfer if we’re forking out such an amount of money for the England international.
Admittedly, we may be inclined to throw such considerations out of the window in light of the calibre of talent discussed.
However, we can hardly afford to go another season with a threadbare midfield department that contains a 29-year-old Fabinho and the likes of Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara in their 30s.
Serious investment is needed come the summer window at the absolute latest but there needs to be some serious thought given to our financial capabilities and what successfully signing Bellingham could mean for our manoeuvrability in the market beyond that point.
It’s a difficult balancing act and there’s sure to be a rather sizeable backlash from the fanbase online should we fail to land the 19-year-old in 2023 after missing out on him in 2022.
We trust Julian Ward and his recruitment team to make the right choice, of course, and have a list of potential alternatives that would still allow us to move forward as a club and compete with our more well financially endowed rivals domestically and abroad.
Liverpool must go all out for Jude Bellingham once we have lost out on Tuchoumani to Madrid
Getting rid of Ox and Keita should have happened in the summer window of ’21, as should the re-vamping of the midfield. Two in ’21, another this past summer and a fourth next summer.
FSG’s approach has been hamstringing Klopp, the team andthe entire recruitment/sales process since the summer of 2019, and handling of contracts has been no better.