As Liverpool’s midfield woes last season saw them learn the hard way the value of quality over quantity, it was glaring how the Reds lacked a linchpin at the peak of his powers.
Jurgen Klopp called upon the services of 11 different senior midfielders this season, with such a total rising to 15 if we wish to include Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cody Gakpo, Roberto Firmino, and youngster Bobby Clark. Yet, with Liverpool ultimately boasting an ageing, injury-prone squad as they navigated an underwhelming, transitional campaign, the majority of their options were either ageing stars on the decline, unfortunate players struck down by recurring lay-offs, or raw, unproven potential.
Liverpool have moved quickly to address such issues now the season is over, at least. With James Milner, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Juventus loanee Arthur Melo all departing, the Reds confirmed the signing of Alexis Mac Allister on Thursday. Brought in for an undisclosed fee, reported to be as low as £35m, the 24-year-old is a proven Premier League player coming into his prime who boasts an impeccable availability record.
The World Cup winner’s arrival is just the start of Liverpool’s midfield revamp though, with the Reds expected to bring in at least one more signing, if not two, in their engine-room this summer. But with Mac Allister ticking the ‘peak’ box, it would appear the club’s next targets are of a different profile.
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Liverpool continue to be linked with a plethora of midfielders, with Khephren Thuram and Manu Kone currently leading the speculation ahead of the likes of Romeo Lavia, Ryan Gravenberch, and Gabri Veiga. All five are poised to compete at this summer’s Under-21s European Championships, highlighting how the Reds are perhaps now looking at younger models.
They aren’t the only names on the club’s list of potential targets, of course, but with Mason Mount seemingly Manchester United-bound and interest cooling in Conor Gallagher and Matheus Nunes following reported interest earlier the year, it is this younger selection that has remained prominent in the gossips columns since the Premier League season concluded.
With players born on or after January 1, 2000 eligible to participate in this summer’s U21s Euros in Romania and Georgia, both Thuram and Kone are free to compete despite now being 22 years old. As a result, if Liverpool were to sign either player, the Reds would have to register them in their Premier League and European squads as normal.
But it’s a different story for Liverpool’s other reported midfield target competing in the tournament, with Lavia, Gravenberch, and Veiga all still classed as Under-21s players.
Lavia is still only 19, while both Gravenberch and Veiga turned 21 last month. As a result, none of the trio would need to be registered in a Premier League squad next season if signed by the Reds or any other English top-flight side.
With Liverpool not possessing enough senior homegrown players to name a full 25-man squad, such a sidestep would be beneficial. Especially in the case of Lavia who, having joined Man City in 2020 before signing for Southampton last summer, will qualify as homegrown come the end of the 2023/24 season, ahead of no longer being classified as an Under-21s player from 2026/27 onwards.
However, UEFA rules would stop such transfers from being the perfect workaround for the Reds in the absence of the required eight senior homegrown players to name a full 25-man squad.
If you’re an Under-21s player, you’re free to play Premier League football without being registered in a 25-man squad. However, when it comes to the Champions League/Europa League, you need to tick further boxes to be registered on ‘List B’ and be eligible to play if not selected outside of the senior squad.
For a player to qualify as an Under-21s player in 2023/24, they must be born on or after January 1, 2002. Meanwhile, UEFA rules also state that they must have, ‘been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday by the time he is registered with UEFA – or for a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year. Players aged 16 may be submitted if they have been registered with the club for the previous two years without interruption.”
As a result, any player signed by Liverpool this summer would not have completed the uninterrupted two-year or consecutive three-year with one loan period to be eligible for a place on List B. Such rules have resulted in Harvey Elliott, Stefan Bajcetic, Fabio Carvalho, and Calvin Ramsay all having to be included in the Reds’ senior squad for Champions League action in recent years to be eligible to play despite still being under the age of 21.
Elliott and Bajceitc have now at least been at the club long enough to qualify as Under-21s players on List B. However, Carvalho and Ramsay have not, with the Portuguese, who at least qualifies as homegrown, likely to leave on loan this summer. Meanwhile, not boasting homegrown status, the Scotland international was left out of the Champions League squad for the second half of last season to make room for other players, and left ineligible to feature in Europe as a result with the club already possessing 17 senior overseas players.
With Liverpool now set for a season in the Europa League, such rules act as a further frustration. While traditionally the group-stages would be the perfect opportunity to field younger players, the Reds would essentially need to make room for them in their 25-man squad, while not filling such vacancies in their Premier League quota.
Ben Doak is one player who could also miss out on European opportunities next season as a result, having only joined the club from Celtic last summer. The 17-year-old made five first team appearances in his maiden season at Anfield as he shone at Academy level, and while further opportunities are expected to follow in pre-season and in the new campaign, Liverpool will only have the space for him to play in Europe if they don’t boast their full quota of 17 overseas players.
The same would apply to any of Lavia, Gravenberch, and Veiga if they were to be signed by the Reds this summer. While they wouldn’t need to be registered for Premier League action, they would still need to be considered as one of Liverpool’s 17 overseas players, otherwise Klopp would be in a position where he would have to leave senior players out of his Europa League squad.
Admittedly, come the 2024/25 season such headaches would have eased. Gravenberch and Veiga would both no longer qualify as Under-21s players so would need to be considered as one of the Reds’ 17 overseas players anyway, while Lavia would have played in England long enough to qualify as homegrown. Meanwhile, Doak would have completed two years at Anfield to be eligible for List B.
And while it isn’t the end of the world for Klopp and Liverpool, with them perfectly capable of leaving space for such players if they plan to select them in the season ahead, UEFA’s two-year requirement eligibility rule still feels a little clumsy.
In truth, Lavia, Gravenberch, or Veiga would all be signed for the Reds first team if brought in anyway. But for the likes of recently-signed youngsters like Doak and Ramsay, they could be denied senior opportunities on a Europa League stage that their fellow Liverpool starlets will be able to take advantage of to aid their development and catch Klopp's eye next season.
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