After an apparent oversight seemed to hint at a potential player exit, the admins of the official Liverpool FC website moved quickly to try and nip the matter in the bud.
As reported by SPORTbible on Friday morning, the name of Nat Phillips was conspicuous by its absence from the list of first-team squad members available to print on the back of the new away kit for the 2023/24 season.
This came amid reports of interest from Feyenoord and Leeds in the defender and, in that context, may have prompted some observers to interpret it as a hint that he could be leaving Anfield.
However, any such oversight has since been rectified, with a link to the page to purchase the new away shirt now including the Reds’ number 47 among the dropdown list of player options.
Given the recent rumoured interest in Phillips, in tandem with the reported omission of his name from the selection of players on the LFC website, it’s understandable why some fans may have taken it as a hint over his potential departure.
It comes just a couple of weeks after a video appeared online showing the Anfield dressing room with three current players’ names on last season’s kit rather than the 2023/24 shirt, again prompting speculation over their respective futures (talkSPORT).
However, it’s important not to jump the gun or draw premature conclusions from what are probably genuine oversights.
In the midst of a summer transfer window, some may regularly look out for any hint – no matter how tenuous or accidental – of a potential signing or player exit from their club and duly read more into it than meets the eye.
Even though Phillips was a peripheral member of the Liverpool squad last season, playing just five first-team games (Transfermarkt), it shouldn’t be assumed that he’ll leave purely on the basis of an apparent website glitch which has since been corrected.