Out of the front line , only Gakpo is someone I would definitely have issues with leaving. Chiesa might come in there too considering he’s only kicking on and he needs the full season for us to gauge him really.
Diaz , Nunez and Jota can leave provided we have suitable replacements coming in.
We should still be having the 6 forwards. But replacing the increasing injury prone Jota in-house with someone like Danns is something worth looking at. No disrespect to Jota.
Diaz is an excellent player and he’s been great for us but if we have someone who can offer us something similar , I’ll be all in for that.
Nunez is Nunez , there’s talent in him to be of use to work with a 2 striker system. Unfortunately that’s not us. He’s had his chances and we possibly should look to cut our losses. I still maintain he’s got all the attributes to click on. His off the ball work and general game is excellent. But he as with all CFs is going to be rated on his goals and those haven’t been coming.
There will be a few inevitable departures and maybe a few we judge worth doing, depending on the market and other circumstances. But I expect a pretty good portion of this squad to remain as it is. You could make a case for two new full backs, a CB, a midfielder and a striker. But do I expect us to sign all of the mentioned + more (if something like selling both Nunez and Jota happens, which I don’t expect)? No, can’t see that.
I think the implication is that it would be a phased rebuild than a one shot one.
Allows us to still remain competitive and get the replacements in quicker so that they are used to the system by the time Virgil and Mo do leave.
The club that Liverpool is , we should have no problem attracting players.
Successful clubs almost always do a phased rebuild rather than doing the alternative. Having the core leadership of the team which is Virgil and Mo is important for both the short term and the long term.
This is the problem. If we lose Trent and Mo (and possibly Virg), then the signings you’ve listed are really just a minimum. It would be madness to go into next season with the same squad as this season minus our three out of contract stars.
Of course, I didn’t write that thinking that all 3 will leave (it’s possible, in which case, more would have to be done). We first have to see what happens with them, the club possibly already knows more or less. But there could be a combination, I’m not sure we’ll sign a RB if Trent leaves. I’m pretty sure we’ll sign a defender, maybe even two. But for all these “we’d consider selling y or z”, there will be a limit. We won’t do it with all of them, we will have to prioritize.
I’d always be wary of wholesale changes. If we do lose those 3 and with Becker’s future up in the air I’d only consider selling anyone if we had a replacement done.
Sure.
But he does end up having to miss matches as a result. And as time goes on , the recurring injuries do hamper a player.
It’s not like there’s an urge to push Jota out. But if there’s a suitable offer and a chance to replace him with someone newer , the club would be mad to not consider it.
On the summer (and fingers crossed we’re recruiting of the back of a league title) I think we need to be looking for
A centre back. Preferably left sided, with Quansah going on loan.
A left back. A stellar one. Takes the first team spot and one of Robbo or Kostas moves on.
A forward to replace Nunez, who should be moved on.
A Midfielder to replace Endo. That’s if Slot doesn’t rate Endo and wants an upgrade.
That’s all without bringing the three expiring contracts into the equation. If Mo and Virgil leave, then we’re going to have to go really big. If Trent goes I would make any big moves. We have Bradley and Gomez, and we might need to have a little look at whether we need a belter to start games or and right sided Kostas to back up Bradley.
I don’t disagree, but I think a bigger issue with Jota is not that he is injury prone per se. It’s that he wants to get involved in these physical battles with massive lads. His two longest spells out of the last couple of years have literally been because a huge lad fell on him.
Mo Salah doesn’t get involved in that shit. That’s not saying Mo is a coward - he is just clever enough to not put himself in situations where an injury is a possibility.
I doubt they do this. If all three contract players leave then replacing them will be the focus. I reckon you might get one other done on top of doing those three.
They’ll not replace 6-7 players in one window. You’ll see them keep Quansah as fourth choice and just replace Virg. Bradley and Gomez would likely be RB options. Endo would get another year or McConnell given that role and replacing the likes of Robertson and Nunez will be kicked another year down the road.
You might even find them trying Chiesa as Mo’s replacement for a year. But I’d be amazed if they did more than four first team transfers, five at a push if there was a squad option at the back.