This time last year Liverpool’s attacking options were predominantly long-serving players who had helped deliver the Reds the Champions League and Premier League in successive seasons. However, despite just such famous glory, with contracts running out and 30th birthdays looming, it was clear a revamp would soon be needed.
Incoming sporting director Julian Ward was tasked with refreshing Liverpool ’s forward options in 2022 after it was confirmed he would be replacing Michael Edwards. And in the space of a few months, he’s done exactly that.
Sadio Mane joined Bayern Munich in a deal worth up to £35m last week, with the 30-year-old deciding to pursue a new challenge ahead of his contract running out in 2023. Meanwhile, Divock Origi departed at the end of his own deal and looks set to join AC Milan on a free transfer, while a £15.5m fee has been agreed with AS Monaco for Takumi Minamino.
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With Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino both the wrong side of 30 and out of contract next summer, it remains to be seen whether they will sign new contracts at Anfield. Liverpool would like the Egyptian to stay, at least, but are yet to agree new terms with the forward.
As a result, from the six senior forwards Jurgen Klopp had at his disposal at the start of last season, Diogo Jota was the only one with a clear long-term future on Merseyside.
With Ward getting to work on this Reds attacking revamp, Luis Diaz was signed from FC Porto in a deal worth up to £49m back in January. Liverpool had planned to move for the Colombian this summer but saw their hand forced following interest from Tottenham Hotspur, so signed the winger six months early instead.
Meanwhile, Darwin Nunez and Fabio Carvalho have both been snapped up this summer, with the Uruguayan joining from Benfica in a deal which could end up totalling a club-record £85m, and a £7.7m compensation package with Fulham being agreed for the Portugal Under-21s international.
Should Salah and/or Firmino depart in 2023, further replacements will need to be sought but, on paper at least, Ward has successfully managed what he set out to do. Three in, three out at Anfield in attack, and while the loss of Mane is a blow, the arrival of Diaz and Nunez both compensate significantly for his departure.
As a result, with Carvalho also signing after a prolific season in the Championship, you’d argue the Reds’ new attacking hexet appears stronger than the one that started the 2021/22 campaign. At the very least, the average age has dropped from 27 and two months to 25 and four months, and will decrease further should Salah and/or Firmino depart with the duo the only two forwards now not tied down long-term at Anfield.
Yet despite such activity and Liverpool remaining adamant their incoming transfer business for the summer is done, having also signed Calvin Ramsay along with Nunez and Carvalho, links with further forwards persist despite Ward delivering the desired refresh in attack. Otavio was the latest name the Reds were tipped to move for over the weekend, following previous speculation, only for club insiders to dismiss such a rumour as entirely fabricated.
Meanwhile, the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha are just two of the names who have found themselves repeatedly linked with Liverpool in the gossip columns. Yet the Reds’ lack of movement for either in a summer where both could be on the move says it all and could tie in with Salah’s own Anfield future.
In the case of Dembele, recent reports in Spain have claimed Liverpool have made a late offer to the Frenchman ahead of his contract at Barcelona expiring this summer. The Catalans would like to retain the services of the forward, who has attracted interest from Chelsea, but have only been able to offer him reduced terms due to their well-documented financial problems.
Said to be on £210,000 a week at Camp Nou, Dembele reportedly asked for a significant pay-rise from Barcelona following the January signing of Ferran Torres, while he is said to have been left underwhelmed by Chelsea’s offer to match his current wage. As a result, despite Jurgen Klopp having monitored the forward when he played for both Rennes and Borussia Dortmund prior to signing for Barcelona, and repeated links with the Reds, a move to Anfield seems rather unlikely.
Liverpool are yet to find a compromise with Salah regarding new terms, with the Egypt star said to be the club’s second highest earner on £200,000 a week. Should Salah agree a new contract, he will become the highest paid player in the Reds’ history, though the club has been unwilling to meet his demands so far which would break its wage structure.
Such a stance seemingly dismisses the possibility of Dembele moving to Liverpool as a result despite these Spanish reports. After all, free agent or not, if the Reds aren’t currently willing to meet their star player’s wage demands, they are hardly likely to bring in a new forward and pay him more, with the club preferring to initially have new signings in the lower wage bracket before rewarding them with higher returns after earning it through success on the pitch.
Nunez has been the latest example of this with the ECHO understanding the Uruguay international is roughly earning the same as the likes of Jota and Diaz on around £140,000 a week rather than the higher wages of established forwards Salah and Firmino. As a result, Dembele’s soon-to-be Bosman status looks unlikely to attract Liverpool and prompt a transfer U-turn, with the Frenchman pricing himself out of a potential transfer.
Meanwhile, having previously been tipped to join Barcelona, Raphinha now looks set to remain in the Premier League as Arsenal hold talks with Leeds United. The Gunners have already one bid rejected by the Whites, who are said to be holding out for £65m.
Liverpool have repeatedly been linked with the Brazilian in the past and were understood to be monitoring him alongside West Ham United’s Jarrod Bowen as they contemplated future additions in attack. However, the Reds never followed up that interest with a bid for either player, with it seeming a move would only have been made had Salah looked to leave the club.
Should Liverpool wish to sign Raphinha, it would seemingly be a straight-forward deal to conclude with Leeds resigned to the winger moving on to play European football elsewhere. And with Arsenal only able to offer Europa League football, the lure of the Champions League at Anfield would presumably have a greater pulling power.
Back in January, interest from North London prompted the Reds to bring forward plans to sign Diaz from Porto, but, as things stand, history appears unlikely to repeat itself. As a result, Liverpool’s lack of movement for Raphinha suggests they haven’t given up hope of agreeing new terms with Salah just yet, despite the dwindling time left on his contract, and, even if the Egyptian King did move on, their interest in Raphinha has presumably also moved on with other names on their replacement shortlist obtaining greater attention.
Either way, with Dembele and Raphinha seemingly set for pastures news, it would appear it might be time for Kopites to cross these two gossip column constants off their Liverpool wishlists. For now.
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