Liverpool transfer news: Fabinho could leave and Jürgen Klopp is supposedly considering a big-money replacement while Manu Koné has re-emerged in the gossip columns.
Liverpool has an interesting few days ahead in the transfer market with interest having emerged in Fabinho and Jordan Henderson. Both players, as it stands, will be heading to Germany with their Reds teammates for a pre-season training camp on Saturday.
It feels like if either or both men are to depart, it will happen fairly quickly. It would then be over to Liverpool to work out how to replace them with no obvious candidates at reasonable prices.
It is fair to say that the expectation should be that Liverpool gets linked with plenty of midfielders over the next day or so as decisions are made and outcomes emerge, and that is happening already.
Fabinho go
Jürgen Klopp has already lost experienced players like James Milner this summer while Naby Keïta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also left for free. Losing Fabinho or Henderson, though, who played the majority of Liverpool fixtures last season, would be a completely different story.
For that pair, more immediate players to come into the starting line-up and hit the ground running would be required to avoid a situation where Liverpool could be left in another season of transition.
Here is the Liverpool.com verdict on the transfer gossip to emerge around the Reds today, with two players for the center of the pitch who have been mentioned before being linked with moves.
Moisés Caicedo (Brighton)
Liverpool is considering joining the race to sign Brighton midfielder Moisés Caicedo if both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho leave, according to TalkSport.
The radio station reports that Liverpool could fund a move for the 21-year-old Ecuadorian, who would be a massive upgrade in the center of the pitch.
Chelsea is the current favorite for Caicedo and the player is valued at $131m (£100m/€117m), the report states, which would be an investment substantially larger than Liverpool’s transfer record
Manu Koné (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Liverpool sporting director Jörg Schmadtke still has eyes on 22-year-old Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Manu Koné, BILD’s Christian Falk has claimed, writing in his Caught Offside column.
Koné currently has an injury that he sustained at the U21 European Championships but is supposedly on Liverpool’s radar as a possible replacement for Fabinho.
Liverpool’s transfer plans are often described as being ‘fluid’ and that would seem to be the case more so than ever this summer, with Henderson and Fabinho’s possible departures meaning more additions being required than first thought.
Liverpool.com says: Just like with Roméo Lavia, who is another holding midfielder that Liverpool likes, it would be a risk to replace experience with youth, even though both young talents have big futures ahead of them. Getting a more experienced player in would make the most sense if either Henderson, Fabinho or both were to leave
