While Liverpool might currently be battling with the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford to finish in the top four, or even just qualify for Europe next season, it’s an even tighter battle at the other end of the table.
With teams having between 10 and 12 games left to play in the bottom half of the Premier League, this year’s relegation is currently finely poised with just four points separating the bottom nine sides. As a result, it’s impossible to say with any certainty who looks set to plying their trade in the Championship next year.
At the start of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool reign, the Reds were no strangers to snapping up a cut-price bargain from a relegated club. Gini Wijnaldum, Andy Robertson and Xherdan Shaqiri all joined in successive summers from Newcastle United, Hull City and Stoke City respectively following each side’s relegation.
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Costing a combined £48.5m, it was shrewd business with all three players playing crucial roles as Liverpool won the Champions League in 2019 and Premier League in 2020. And while the Netherlands and Switzerland internationals have now long since left Anfield, the Scotland captain remains first-choice for the Reds at left-back and has won every major honour on offer to him with the club.
Yet despite such success on the transfer front, Liverpool haven’t snapped up any newly-relegated players since bringing in Harvey Elliott from Fulham in the summer of 2019. Even then, the then 16-year-old joined from the Cottagers at the end of his contract, having only made two Premier League appearances for the West London outfit, with the Reds later ordered to pay £4.3m in compensation.
However, depending on how this season’s relegation battle goes, Liverpool could find themselves taking advantage of such a plight once again in the summer with reports suggesting one potential Reds target could be available for a cut-price fee should his side go down.
Just six weeks after dismantling Liverpool 3-0 at Molineux, Wolves fell to a hefty 4-2 defeat at home to fellow strugglers Leeds United on Saturday. While 13th in the table, the result leaves them just three points above the drop-zone.
Having played one, if not two, games more than the majority of sides below them, the West Midlands-based outfit's goal difference is also one of the worst in the league. The lowest scorers in the English top-flight, Leeds, Everton, Leicester City and 18th-placed West Ham United would all be ahead of them on goal difference, as things stand, if they found themselves level on points.
Having lost four of their last six league matches, picking up four points along the way, Wolves are next in action at home to Chelsea following the March international break.
They also face European hopefuls Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion next month, either side of meetings with fellow strugglers Leicester and Crystal Palace. Meanwhile in May, after hosting mid-table Aston Villa, a home clash with Everton is sandwiched between away trips to Manchester United and Arsenal in their final three matches of the season.
In other words, while their fate is still in their own hands, they could easily find themselves in real trouble in the weeks ahead. Which could in turn aid Liverpool’s pursuit of midfielder Matheus Nunes.
The Reds will revamp their engine room in the summer, with Jude Bellingham well documented to be their first-choice target. However, they will need more than one new midfielder, with Nunes, who was sent off in that defeat to Leeds despite remaining an unused substitute, also known to be on their radar.
Linked with the Portugal international last summer when he joined Wolves from Sporting Lisbon, Liverpool’s interest in the 24-year-old is long-standing and, featuring on the Reds’ long-list of potential signings, he is touted as a genuine target for the summer.
Reports suggesting Liverpool would move for Nunes at the end of the season first emerged back in January, and have remained prominent ever since. A £44m signing for Wolves, it has been suggested that he could cost the Reds around £50m in the summer.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are known to boast a good working relationship both with Wolves, following the moves for Diogo Jota to Anfield and Ki-Jana Hoever to Molineux in September 2020, and the Gestifute agency who represent Nunes. The Reds worked with them during deals for the likes of Fabinho, Jota and Darwin Nunez, with sporting director Julian Ward, in particular, enjoying a closeness with key figures at the Jorge Mendes-founded company.
Throw in key Liverpool figures’ intense scouting of the Portuguese market in recent years, and a move for Nunes would, on paper, make sense regardless of the division Wolves find themselves in come the summer.
But while that rough £50m fee has been reported elsewhere when the Reds have been linked with the player in the past, the prospect of relegation could see him made available for a cut-price fee. Football Insider has suggested Championship football could see his asking-price slashed by up to £20m, suggesting Wolves will instead have to settle for £30m-£40m for the Portuguese.
Given Bellingham would cost a club-record fee of over £100m were Liverpool to sign him, accompanying with a cheaper midfielder partner would certainly be attractive. Meanwhile, if the Reds missed out on both the England international and Champions League football next season, the Portuguese could still be a budget-friendly addition.
And with Liverpool’s interest in Nunes pre-dating his move to Molineux, should he become available for a cut-price fee then the Reds, ever the opportunists in the transfer market when they smell out a bargain, might see an opening that is simply too good to turn down.
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