We would still potentially have Thiago, Fabinho, Hendo, Ox, Milner and Jones so I don’t think AFCON is a deal breaker.
As for Keita, despite the teams performance being better when he plays, when declared fit he often sits on the bench - so I can see him leaving if the club get a suitable offer
He could also be sold or sent out on loan.
Whatever happens we’ll be without services for at least all of January and the start of Feb.
Where are the timescales for this?
Mane missed less than a month in 2017 and that was with Senegal reaching the quarters.
AFCON is an inconvenience but in reality it’s only going to affect 3 or 4 league games and no CL games.
Which rather begs the question, with that level of cover in midfield do we need Bissouma; wouldn’t we be better off spending our money on another position e.g. in attack or defence?
I agree.
If we sign Bissouma (or another midfielder) this summer, I would assume the money is there also for the other two positions, should we want to bring someone in. Having the extra body obviously gives us more options this season, in a year where we have the Euros and AFCON adding extra games to the calendar.
It also allows him to bed in ahead of the following year when Milner will probably move on to another club or into a coaching role, and we will have several players considering whether to sign new contracts with the club.
The Executive Committee unanimously approved the proposed dates for the organization of the draw (June 25, 2021) and the Total Africa Cup of Nations 2021 Cameroon final tournament (January 9 to February 6, 2022)
As far as I know, called up players would have to be released 14 days before the start date i.e. no later than 27th December 2021.
I wouldn’t bet on that assumption. If we buy Konate for £40 million (breaking news according to the Echo), I doubt we will have sufficient funds for more than one additional major signing.
True. And hopefully AFCON 2023 will be postponed until 2024… 
I agree it’s not an assumption to rest one’s hat, but I think it is still a reasonable one. There is obviously a lot happening behind the scenes we don’t see…and I dont think the club are wanting to risk being light up front. FSG could view this a window to invest big as we are running out of Windows Klopp will be here for. Likewise, they may feel confident there is strong enough interest in fringe players they will allow to leave.
For example.
The mooted cost for Bissouma is £30 - £40m. The closer we get to the lower figure the easier it is for the cost to be offset by say Keita leaving.
A forward in the same price range could be offset by Shaqiri, Wilson and Origi leaving.
Maybe then Ox becomes available?
AFCON is consistently overstated as a concern for teams buying players. A “big” team is playing 60 games a year, you don’t not sign someone because they have to miss 4/5 games every two seasons.
Additionally, AFCON is so unpredictable that just because someone plays for one of the major African nations it is no guarantee they will actually progress beyond the group stages.
I also think we will get a fair bit in from sales;
Origi - £10mil ish
Wilson - £10mil ish
Shaqiri - £10mil ish
Karius - £5mil ish
Awoniyi - £8mil ish
Grujic - £10mil ish
That’s £53mil from fringe players, and I went low with estimates.
I would like us to get backups for Trent and Robbo that Klopp would be confident of using as opposed to falling back on Milner. I may be wrong but for some reason I feel Klopp doesn’t trust Tsimikas or Neco Williams enough.
Not shifting Karius, I’m afraid… I honestly don’t see a club willing to pay money to get him. I agree about the others and I also expect a major sale like Keita or AOC to boost the coffers even further. I also think that Ojo is likely to depart this summer, even though he signed a new contract fairly recently.
So, if Konate and, say, Bissouma cost about 70 million pounds, I think that Edwards should be able to cover their fees and wages by offloading all of these. On top of that, maybe another forward to arrive and that’s all I’m expecting of this summer.
and Minamino?
Your valuations are right, except for that one.
Klopp will have no qualm about using Tsimikas and Neco once he has a stable CB pairing going.
Maybe he’s not that bad! Yeah few others I’ve forgot also.
If Edwards gets 5 million for Karius he is a danger to society and needs to be put in jail.
Karius or Edwards 
Ruben Neves for sale apparently, would be a interesting midfield choice. Would like a more high energy press option, but for a 24 year old kid with alot of potential Neves might be worth a look as Ginis sucessor in our side.
We definitely need a foward, we have wasted too many chances this season and Jota showed how important a signing he was when he came in. We need that central figure that can change a game when we look like we are running stale. Tammy Abraham makes economical sense in that he is young hungry and can fulfill the role asked of him by Klopp.
Grizemann? Sounds like fantasy or fiction but if Barcelonas problems are as bad as people claim they are financially, maybe there is a bargain in there somewhere to be had. Maybe.
Two shouts to make would be Grealish or St Allan Maximin , i think either player would help our squad immensely , Grealish has shown to be a really good player and is multi faceted and Maximin with his trickery and pace would be a excellent back up when we need a attacking options to mix it up.
We definitely need a striker and a Midfielder, because over the course of the season we have seen Origi become completely unusable in games even as a sub, meanwhile, losing gini a guy who has been available for the whole season more or less will be a huge blow regardless of whether Curtis is the long term option or not. We need more bite and fight in midfield, we struggled before Phillips established himself and we stopped needing to use Fabinho as a Centre back. It helped Thiago get more settled to, but i feel we need that pressing energy option in midfield thats gonna shield and win the ball back for us.
Tsimikas I think came fairly late in the window so may not have had a full pre season with us. Add in his time spent ill with Covid and the injury he later picked up, meaning he missed a big chunk of the first half of the season. The second half, we have been without our first 3 CBs and relying on relative youngsters to fill that position. It is quite understandable why he may not have got much game time this season. I don’t think that is a lack of trust.