LIVERPOOL CONFIDENTIAL: Jurgen Klopp is NOT ruling out additions in January, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s management eye another Reds star – and clubs are on alert as Fabio Carvalho’s Leipzig loan nears end
- Liverpool are not expected to make a host of signings come the January window
- That does not mean that a short-term option, or a cheap deal, will not happen
- Where is Liverpool’s Declan Rice? If Jordan Henderson hadn’t taken the Saudi cash, he’d be in Jurgen Klopp’s team – It’s All Kicking Off
January is not expected to be a mad transfer trolley-dash for Liverpool despite clear weaknesses or lack of depth in defence and holding midfield, but the club – as ever – are alert to opportunities and could make moves if the price is right.
The injury to Joel Matip, an ACL blow likely to end the former Cameroon international’s season, has accelerated the desire among fans to sign a centre back.
But Jurgen Klopp dismissed this two weeks ago, saying Liverpool were ‘unlikely’ to do so.
That being said, Klopp has not completely slammed the door on potential incomings. Liverpool transfer chiefs were due to sit down last week and discuss their tactics for the upcoming window amid Matip’s injury.
Confidential understands that a lot of Liverpool’s January plans would depend on clubs’ European progress, with the Reds more likely to get a better deal out of a team that had, for example, fallen out of the Champions League.
Jurgen Klopp has ruled out the prospect of Liverpool making a number of signings in January
Injury to Joel Matip (pictured), which rules him out for the season, has left Liverpool a touch light at centre back, so a short term or cheap option could prove attractive if it emerges
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Liverpool have kept an eye on the Portuguese market and are looking at a number of options, not just Goncalo Inacio who has been continually linked. The Sporting defender signed a new deal in the summer to increase his release clause to just over £50million.
The left-footed defender, who can also play as an inverted left back, has interest from other Premier League clubs, with Arsenal also said to be keen.
Liverpool had previously been interested in fellow Liga Portugal defender David Carmo, who moved from Braga to Porto.
Maxence Lacroix of Wolfsburg, who came through the same Sochaux academy as Ibrahima Konate, was also a name mentioned but this one is not a priority. The Reds are unsure if Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly, available on a free in the summer, is of the standard required.
Sporting Lisbon star Goncalo Inacio is one of those defenders Liverpool are admirers of
Perr Schuurs of Torino was heavily linked to a number of English clubs in the summer but the Dutch defender, a product of Ajax’s academy, has recently suffered a similar injury to Matip so this is one to rule out.
No defensive option is a concrete key target but Liverpool will keep their eyes peeled if any cheap or short-term deals come available in January. As for midfielders, it is unlikely that the Reds go into the window in January.
Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha has been constantly linked but it is understood that Liverpool hold little interest in spending a huge transfer fee on a 28-year-old. Sources close to the club also distanced Liverpool from Fluminense midfielder Andre Trindade last month.
LOANS ARE A MIXED BAG
Last Thursday, three of Liverpool’s back four were players who went on loan last season – Conor Bradley (Bolton), Jarell Quansah (Bristol Rovers) and Luke Chambers (Kilmarnock). It perhaps proved the short-term market can work – but it has been a bit more frustrating this term.
Fabio Carvalho is set to be recalled by Liverpool after a failed stint at RB Leipzig – he has started just one Bundesliga match – while Rhys Williams is likely to also return to Merseyside after failing to make a single appearance for Aberdeen.
Nat Phillips has come under scrutiny from Celtic fans on his short-term jaunt to Glasgow and that is another loan not working out.
Harvey Davies, the Crewe goalkeeper, was booed by his own fans after making a string of mistakes in the Alex’s draw against Accrington on Saturday.
Fabio Carvalho’s loan spell at RB Leipzig has not gone to plan and a new loan appears likely
Nat Phillips is also in the spotlight after faltering on his jaunt playing in Scotland for Celtic
Some will point to the fact that former loans manager David Woodfine departed the club last summer after almost nine years’ service. Of the 17 players currently out on loan, perhaps only Tyler Morton at Hull is consistently excelling.
Leipzig play Werder Bremen on Tuesday before breaking for the Christmas/winter break, when the two clubs will make a final decision on Carvalho’s future. He is likely to go back on loan if he returns to Liverpool, with AC Milan, Burnley and Fulham all mooted as destinations.
PELOTON SIGN UP KLOPP
Jurgen Klopp will become the latest sportsperson to team up with Peloton, with the Liverpool manager appearing in a multi-channel campaign to air around the New Year period. It builds on Peloton’s partnership with the football club.
Klopp has teamed up with Peloton for German and Austrian markets but the new promotion will be for the UK audience, focusing on the football match-day experience.
The campaign will go live on TV, cinema and digital channels from Boxing Day onwards.
It will show the German making his way through the Peloton world as a new member, taking part in cycling and strength workouts on a bike, running on a treadmill and using the app for yoga and outdoor activity. The promo is narrated by BBC Sport commentator Guy Mowbray.
DOAK IS A MAN IN DEMAND
Liverpool youngster Ben Doak is subject to interest from the same management agency that looks after Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, with PLG UK trying to tie down the winger as he steps up his first-team involvement.
Doak, who played in the Europa League last week, was managed by former Celtic, Wolves and Scotland defender Jackie McNamara, who helped him settle into Liverpool after a whirlwind 12 months that saw him move for £600,000 from the Glasgow giants.
PLG also have Liverpool’s Nat Phillips, who is coincidentally on loan at Celtic, as well as West Ham’s England forward Jarrod Bowen, Brentford’s Aaron Hickey and fellow Scotsman Ryan Christie, who plays for Bournemouth.
Ben Doak (right) is one of the brightest prospects in Liverpool’s academy and he is in demand
FANS SPEAK OUT AGAINST AXA
Liverpool’s commercial partner AXA was subject to protests outside Anfield on Sunday, with signs reading ‘AXA stop funding genocide’ held aloft alongside Palestine flags as the team buses arrived ahead of the match with Manchester United.
Protesters accuse the insurance firm of having investments in Israeli banks which are complicit in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise on occupied Palestinian land. They are accused of having investments in an Israeli arms manufacturer facilitating Israeli war crimes.
A ‘Stop AXA Assistance to Israeli Apartheid Campaign’ was set up in 2015 to target the French insurance giant and, at the time, AXA held shares of three Israeli banks – Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi and Mizrahi Tefahot.
A protest was held prior to Sunday’s match against Manchester United against sponsors AXA
A ‘Stop AXA Assistance to Israeli Apartheid Campaign’ was set up in 2015 to target company
KIRKBY KIDS
It is not just the first team with a fixture pile-up.
Liverpool’s Under 18s played a heavily-rotated side for their 4-1 defeat at the hands of Wolves on Saturday, with a number of players moved up an age group ahead of an FA Youth Cup tie on Tuesday.
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s side go to Fleetwood’s Highbury Stadium in a match which was called off due to a waterlogged pitch earlier this month. Lamore Forrester, 16, made his debut for the Under 18s. The winger was man of the tournament in an Under 14 international cup last year.
Liverpool’s kids are preparing for an FA Youth Cup tie on Tuesday against Fleetwood Town
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!
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After the defeat to Wolves, Bridge-Wilkinson said: ‘It was a mixed team, we were quite young, but we learned an awful lot about some of the younger players in the game and that can only be a good thing.’
Tuesday’s clash will be available to watch on Fleetwood’s YouTube channel.
But Sunday was a better day for Liverpool’s academy after Bobby Clark scored a 90th-minute winner for the Under 21s against Chelsea.
The 18-year-old, who was involved with the first team until a recent injury, came off the bench and marked his return in style.
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