Would be tough to make us worse.
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I remember we were linked a year or two ago to Lamine Camara, i read or heard (probably not reliable - may have been Anfield Index) since that it was that Arne chose not to go ahead with the transfer.
Does anyone know anything about him, whether he could be a target we revisit or why Arne wouldnt have wanted him?
Wharton is great on the ball, weāre terrible at building from the back. Thatās a signing that makes sense. Donāt particularly like his injury record though.
We need midfielders who actually show for the ball and can pass it to their own teammates.
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I think Wharton would struggle here. Heās not dynamic enough and I donāt feel heās shown the personality needed to succeed at a massive club like Liverpool.
Iād prefer Baleba.
Heās increasingly impressed me and watching Brighton against Chelsea was a joy. So I guess that puts HĆ¼rzeler in the mix too as an alternative to Xabi.
Van Hecke as well.
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100% agree. Scott is very similar to Jones mind.
Meaning what? Running isnāt his primary skill like Szoboszlai and Gravenberch?
Sounds good to me.
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If weāre easy to play through now, which we are, Wharton isnāt helping with that. Play drifts past him too easily.
[I accept that our current issues with that are more down to the coaching though]
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I agree. But weāre also terrible at building up from the back since Trent left.
You canāt have a team of Mama, Kerkez, Frimpong, Bradley, Konate, Grav and Szoboszlai and hope to see good football, all of them are far too limited in possession.
Wharton helps solve one issue. No player helps solve them all.
Also, most importantly, heās a good watch. Canāt be doing with seeing another midfielder who canāt turn on the ball and make a simple 10 yard pass.
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Mateus Fernandez is your guy. He can pass it better than all our mids and Wharton.
We have one and he almost left in January because he seemed to be out of coachās favourā¦
The big issue for me is that we find ourselves in need of one new player to solve our build-up issues - even if he does solve it, what happens when heās unavailable? We go back to passing the ball between the centre backs before the goalie hoofs it as far as possible?
Also, if Wharton or someone of his ilk joins, where does that leave Jones? I really wouldnāt want to see him leave for many reasons but if he isnāt trusted to start in a deeper role in Mac Allisterās place, I think heās as good as gone.
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I think heād be a great addition although Iād see him as more advanced midfielder than Wharton. Wharton is the one who picks it up from the back four, Fernandez is connecting it to the forwards.
If, and itās a big if, we were to rip up the entire midfield and start over I wouldnāt hate to see Wharton-Fernandez-Anderson but Iād be going back to a more fluid three rather the highly structured (and poorly structured) midfield we currently have.
Iād also have Wirtz just play off the right hand side but thatās another discussion altogether.
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Wharton - Soboszlai - Wirtz makes sense to me.
One player doesnāt solve the issue. We donāt have enough players who are really good in possession. We need more, simply put. Leoni and Jacquet will hopefully prove useful. Right back is still a glaring issue.
Preaching to the converted about Jones, he should have played more this season. He neednāt be sold just because we sign another midfielder who likes having the ball. We could be pioneering and have two, maybe even three, midfielders who like playing football.
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Ins and outs then:
Outs:
Salah
Alisson
Robertson
Mac Allister
Gakpo
Ins:
Mateus Fernandes
Baleba
Van Hecke
2 quality wide players (no idea here)
Probably a RB as well
Returns?
Tsimikas
Elliott (?)
I guess Jones staying will depend on whether thereās a new coach appointed in the summer and if heāll get a more prominent role the next season. I agree, he doesnāt have to be sold to accommodate a new player (though Mac Allister might be the one to leave first - I genuinely canāt tell whatās going on there given that Gravenberch has signed a new contract, club want to extend Szoboszlaiās but nothing seems to be going on with his contract extension).
Iām getting the feeling that the midfield would have to consist of new DM/Jones, Szoboszlai/Gravenberch and Wirtz in order to have a semblance of balance. I expect Nyoni and McConnell to head out on loan, so five players for three spots would look a bit light on numbers if we secure CL football, though. Soā¦ New guy to resurrect Elliottās career? 
There are also the small matters of two right wing players, another left backā¦ It might be another summer where the club have to bring in more than four new players.
No chance we sell Gakpo with Mo going and Ekitike missing for the start of the season.
Baleba is an interesting one. Talk of Brighton wanting Ā£100m for him last summer but barely heard his name mentioned all season.
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He hasnāt had a great season by most accounts. I Donāt know if itās just one those things, maybe the impact of how much conversation there was about him in the summer, or maybe possibly a reversion to the mean issue
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Looking at our squad and the manager /hopefully not Slot/ will need 4 or 5 new faces.
GK - if we keep Alisson, it will be the same as this season. But I expect the club to prevail and sell Allie to Juve /hopefully not another Christmas gift like Kelleherās transfer to Brentford/. Selling the brazilian will mean that Mamardashivili will be first choice and probably Jaros will be back from loan from Ajax. He had a decent loan, till a nasty injury ended his season in January/. So - I expect Mamardashvili, Jaros and Woodman for season 2026/2027.
Defence - Van Dijk, Konate, Jacquet and Leoni are more than enough. Four central defenders, good mix of experience, quality, potential and youth. And of course it will be really important for LFC to sign a new long contract with Konate.
Postion of left back - seems pretty obvious - Kerkez and Tsimikas.
Right back - we have two right backs on paper, but in my opinion we need a new right back with quality end experience. Bradley is injury prone, while Frimpong colud be a very good option playing as a right winger/midfielder.
Midfield - at least one new player and please, sign a defensive midfielder at last. I would keep - MacAllister, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Wirtz and Elliott /will definitely keep him, he can play on the right side of the attack, central midfielder and attacking midfielder/.
Left wing - Gakpo and Ngumoha are more than enough and on top of that Wirtz could play on the left side too.
Right wing - Frimpong and a new signing, /Elliott could be an option too/.
Central forward - Isak, Ekitike and probably a loan option, while Hugo will be missing.
OUT:
Sales - Alisson /expectation are he will be sold to Juventus/, Gomez /if Konate signs new contract/, Endo, Jones, Chiesa, Luca Stephenson, Beck, Chambers
Free transfers- Robertson, Salah, Rhys Williams.
Loans - Pecsi, Ramsay /last chances saloon/, Nyoni, Bajcetic, McConnell. Danns, Scanlon, Koumas.
New players:
As I wrote, I would sign a right back and if Spurs go down, I think that Porro will be a very solid signing. Spanish international with experience, but still still 26 years old and he is not injury prone.
1 or 2 new midfielders - Baleba, Joao Gomes, Smits /AZ/, Hugo Larsson /Eintracht/, Sano /NEC/
1 or 2 Attacking players - Diomande, Mane /from Wolves and like the idea of having player, called Mane/, El Mala /Koln/, Godts /Ajax/, Ueda /Feyenoord/.
Probably 250 mln. pounds for new signing and the club can get 100 mln. pounds for Alisson /15-20 mln. pounds/, Endo /7-8 mln. pounds/, Chiesa /12-15 mln. pounds/, Gomez /10-15 mln. pounds/, Jones /30-35 mln. pounds/, Stephenson /7-10 mln. pounds/, Beck /3-5 mln. pounds/ and Chambers /3-5 mln. pounds/.
Add to that that 3 big earners will leave on free transfers - Alisson /as I expect/, Salah and Robertson and there will be more space in our wage bill.
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I think weāve previously been linked with Porro but he had already moved to Spurs just the year before so wouldnt be surprised if he was back on the radar.
Notable for Baleba is that heās played a fuck tonne of games for someone of his age. Iām working on a project regarding player development at the moment and Baleba has played the 4th most games of any 2004 player in the country - behind only Garnacho, Mateus Fernandes and Savinho two of whom had the benefit of several years of playing time in slightly easier leagues.
He could easily be just going through a bit of a young player slump, which is common, but because heās so well known know it becomes more noticed.
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