The glorious spring sunshine is here which means it is the business end of the football season and the summer transfer window is just around the corner.
For Liverpool, it has been a disappointing campaign but the Anfield hierarchy are in the process of plotting how to ensure a Reds resurgence next year.
Whether that be by extending contracts of current players, giving boss Arne Slot their backing or signing new stars, Confidential has picked 10 reader questions to answer…
Are the Liverpool hierarchy influenced by fan perception of Slot?
If Fenway Sports Group and the top brass at Liverpool listened to fans, there would not be stage two of planned protests at Anfield this week about ticket-price hikes.
They, and plenty of other executives, need to be told: without fans, football is nothing. By the same token, if the higher-ups were to listen to fans, they would write off players after three bad games and sign a new forward every single week!
Right now, the hierarchy is backing Slot because of a holistic view: if someone had said the new boss would achieve Champions League qualification one season and win the league in the other, everyone would have jumped at that. They agree with Slot on some of the mitigating factors this year, so think he is still the man to lead them forward.
Right now, the Liverpool hierarchy are backing Slot because of his overall success since joining the club
However, they are not blind and can surely see how poor this year has been in terms of performances, how the team has been bullied and vulnerable at times, how Anfield has lost its fear factor. There are a lot of clever people running Liverpool and they must earn their corn with this decision.
Slot has not shown he is the man to solve the side’s problems yet – they have been going on for 12 months now – but he must change that very soon.
Could Jones, Endo and Mac Allister all leave this summer?
I would not be surprised at all if any of them leave… but Liverpool cannot allow all three of them to depart in the same summer.
It would leave them with too much to do. Even as it stands, Liverpool need a midfielder, in my opinion. Alexis Mac Allister has been a shadow of his former self this term, Ryan Gravenberch has not kicked on and Slot does not seem to trust Curtis Jones other than for the odd game or when he is needed at right back.
The Scouser has played 1,486 league minutes compared to 2,657 for Gravenberch, 2,214 for Mac Allister and 2,783 for Dominik Szoboszlai. Inter Milan enquired in January and Tottenham are also looking at him – but will only make a move if they stay in the top flight. By the summer, he will have just one year remaining on his Anfield deal and is weighing up whether to depart his boyhood club.
Mac Allister, 27, was excellent for two seasons – one of the best midfielders in the league – but has been poor this term, owing to a lack of fitness, tactics and dipping confidence. Slot said last week that Liverpool might need to ‘sell some good players’ and the Argentinian could be one of the Reds’ most saleable assets, with Real Madrid lurking in the background according to Spanish reports.
No talks are underway to renew Mac Allister’s deal at Liverpool but that does not expire until 2028. I would not be surprised if he leaves but, personally, I would keep him and back him to get over this poor campaign.
As for Wataru Endo, a lot will depend on what the Japan captain decides to do. If he is happy with his squad role, then he is a useful player when fit due to his versatility.
By the summer, Liverpool’s Curtis Jones will have just one year remaining on his Anfield deal and is weighing up whether to depart his boyhood club
What’s our summer plan? Will we have a UK pre-season game?
Readers of Liverpool Confidential will recall that we revealed Slot’s team will be heading to the States this summer with a showpiece friendly at the Yankee Stadium in between time spent in Nashville and Chicago.
That report has now been confirmed. I would strongly expect them to play at least one game at Anfield before the season commences and also another UK-based game.
They may even need more than that, given those who do well in the World Cup would not be expected to be on the US tour.
Is it a new strategy to buy young centre backs?
I don’t think it’s a new system or anything, it’s more to do with succession planning for Virgil van Dijk and signing the best young talents on the market regardless of position.
It’s why there is tentative interest in 20-year-olds Kees Smit, of AZ Alkmaar, and Bazoumana Toure, of Hoffenheim. Archie Gray, who is the same age, could also be one to watch if Spurs go down according to Daily Mail Sport sources.
Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni are the headline names but Liverpool have also signed several players for the Under 21s and believe they have a strong depth in defence now, especially with Ibrahima Konate close to signing on (according to the Frenchman himself!).
Joe Gomez had suitors at AC Milan and Crystal Palace last year and it’ll be interesting to see what he decides to do this summer. As was the case last year, Liverpool would not have stood in his way had they signed the replacement in Marc Guehi.
Central defender Ibrahima Konate is close to signing a new deal at Liverpool
Do Trafford and Di Gregorio links mean Mamardashvili is not trusted?
I haven’t heard anything about James Trafford, and surely Manchester City would not sell to Liverpool.
Giorgi Mamardashvili has looked good to me. When he has come in cold he has taken a game or two to find his feet, which is natural, but he has been solid when he has had a run in the team. He is working hard on improving areas of his game such as distribution but he is not fazed by the challenge and backs himself to succeed Alisson, whether that be this summer or next, with Juventus interested in the Brazil No 1.
Vitezslav Jaros is in rehab mode at the AXA Training Centre after a season-ending injury cut short his loan at Ajax. He is still wearing a protective boot. Anyway, Freddie Woodman is Liverpool’s answer to Lev Yashin, right, so why are we bothering talking about this?
We interviewed his father (Woodman, not Yashin) earlier this week, if you want to learn more about the ‘nerves of steel’ shot-stopper who was inspired by a trip to Normandy…
Giorgi Mamardashvili is working hard on improving areas of his game such as distribution but he is not fazed by the challenge and backs himself to succeed Alisson
Any update on the Salah replacement?
No updates and I think that is because it is poor form to step up recruitment at this time of the season as it could unsettle selling clubs.
Yan Diomande is the name that has come up the most but his price-tag is gargantuan. Is he worth the money? I can’t claim to have watched him enough to answer that question but it is one Liverpool will be weighing up.
We don’t need to reel off the alternative names again but what I would say is this: I think Liverpool should be signing TWO attackers this summer. Of the six that are here now, Mohamed Salah is definitely leaving, Federico Chiesa looks almost certain to follow him out the door and Hugo Ekitike is out for a large chunk of next season. That leaves you with three for the bulk of the campaign.
Alexander Isak has scored just two Liverpool goals and has looked nothing near a £125million player when he has been fit. Cody Gakpo has been poor and Rio Ngumoha is only 17 and needs to be managed accordingly. Add the fact that Salah’s replacement will have huge pressure, where do the goals come from?
Even if Isak is fitter than he has ever been, he can’t play every week. That’s why it makes sense to sign two. Whether they will or not is another question.
Federico Chiesa looks almost certain to follow Mohamed Salah out the Anfield door
Who decided to buy Wirtz and Isak?
The same bloke that everyone was heralding as a genius when he did it!
Richard Hughes is not exempt from criticism, of course not. How can a team spend £450m and go backwards? How can a team spend so much money and look so exposed by a few injuries? But, by the same token, both of these signings were labelled as game-changers at the time and, in my opinion, they still are.
Next season, we will see the true Wirtz and Isak. Fitter and stronger, they can be like new signings.
Is Slot part-time? How many days off does he give the players?
I could list you 100 things Slot has done wrong this season but giving the players the odd Wednesday off is not one of them. Insiders say everyone in the building is working as hard – if not harder – than when they became champions.
They will have had the same amount of days off as Arsenal and Manchester City this year and are training the same amount as last season when they were all geniuses and won the league.
Likewise, him going to the Netherlands during international breaks is not in my top 100 things he has done wrong this year.
Will Liverpool sign Adam Wharton?
Here is what I wrote in my Confidential Q&A in January, where we also revealed Chelsea were panicking that Liverpool could beat them to the signing of Jeremy Jacquet: ‘There is a widespread belief that Adam Wharton could be the next man to head for the exit door at Crystal Palace.
‘Liverpool would be keen on the England international, according to sources, if a deal could be done with an £80m fee floated by some, though they would face competition from many teams.’
The same is true now. I think the 22-year-old is the dream midfield acquisition for Liverpool: a Spanish-like pass-master, good off the ball and the right age profile. The only worry would be the injury record.
It sounds like Elliot Anderson, who is another many mention, is bound for Manchester City. Let’s see what money is available in terms of midfielders – and who departs.
Adam Wharton would be the dream midfield acquisition for Liverpool: a Spanish-like pass-master, good off the ball and the right age profile
Chiesa to leave? A new left back? Alisson update?
I think Chiesa will leave, yes, with Atalanta, Roma, Milan and Juventus mentioned as those keeping tabs on him when I asked sources in Italy this week. It has just not worked out for him, not for the want of trying.
Speaking of Roma, Kostas Tsimikas will return from a disappointing loan in the Eternal City where he has made just 18 Serie A appearances, mainly from the bench. There is a school of thought that he will end up being Andy Robertson’s replacement, in terms of the No 2 to Milos Kerkez at left back, but is he good enough? Not for me. What if Kerkez was ruled out for three months?
Juventus like Alisson but we don’t know what the goalkeeper himself wants to do at this stage. Liverpool must decide whether he is too injury-prone or not but he recently triggered a contract extension that lasts until the end of next year.
There is a lot on the to-do list at Anfield this summer!
