Liverpool’s summer transfer plans: What we’re hearing

As the Premier League title celebrations continue apace on Merseyside, work is being stepped up behind the scenes in a bid to ensure Liverpool remain ahead of the chasing pack.

It promises to be a busy summer transfer window as sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Arne Slot seek to put their stamp on the squad they inherited from Jurgen Klopp.

“They’re planning to make it a big summer, so we all have to trust the board to do the right job,” captain Virgil van Dijk told reporters after scoring a late winner against West Ham United last month.

Slot recently spoke about the “new energy” an injection of fresh talent can provide and Liverpool’s status as champions should enhance their pulling power. Liverpool will stick to their self-sustaining business model, which means that money generated in player sales will heavily influence the transfer budget.

The club made a pre-tax loss of £57m last season and have the second-highest wage bill in English football behind Manchester City. The financial landscape is brighter following a lucrative return to the Champions League, but two-year contract extensions for top scorer Mohamed Salah and Van Dijk represent big financial commitments.

So, how could the squad be reshaped? We analyse each area.

Goalkeepers

Giorgi Mamardashvili will officially become a Liverpool player on July 1. Hughes struck a £29million ($38.5m) deal with Valencia last August that saw the Georgia international remain in Spain for the current season.

Valencia had spent much of the campaign in a relegation battle, although their goalkeeper’s form was not a major factor behind the team’s issues. On the contrary, he has been pivotal in a recent upturn that has seen Valencia go eight games unbeaten, conceding just five in their last seven matches.

After spurning interest from clubs in the Saudi Pro League last summer, Alisson has made a huge contribution to Liverpool’s title triumph and is going nowhere. That was reaffirmed before last Sunday’s thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur when goalkeeping coach Claudio Taffarel told ESPN Brazil: “He wants to continue living this story.

“I saw that this wave of Saudi Arabia came with great opportunities, very high offers, but he always says: ‘I want to continue this story because I owe a lot to them here, and I want to continue this life here’.”

Liverpool have a one-year option built into his deal, so Alisson, 32, is effectively under contract until the summer of 2027.

The expectation is that backup Caoimhin Kelleher will leave Liverpool this summer, with Mamardashvili taking his place in the squad.

Kelleher, who only has one year remaining on his contract, has made no secret of his desire to become a No 1 goalkeeper. Liverpool rejected a bid from Nottingham Forest in January and Bournemouth are among his suitors.

The Republic of Ireland international is valued at around £30m. Kelleher is a popular figure at Kirkby and the accomplished way he has deputised for Alisson (who has missed 10 league games due to injury and concussion this season) is regarded internally as being key to Liverpool’s success.

Liverpool must decide whether to sanction a loan for 23-year-old goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros, who made his Premier League debut off the bench at Crystal Palace in October, or keep him around as cover for Alisson and Mamardashvili.

Defence

Liverpool are in the market for a new left-back to compete with and ease the burden on Andy Robertson.

Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez features high on the club’s list of targets. Hughes knows him well, having done the deal that took him to the south coast from Dutch club AZ for around £15m in July 2023. The 21-year-old has kicked on impressively since.

Kerkez is close friends with Liverpool midfielder and fellow Hungary international Dominik Szoboszlai but he would not be cheap: Bournemouth would want around £45m. Liverpool also admire Ajax’s Jorrel Hato.

Milos Kerkez is a target for Liverpool (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Signing a left-back this summer would likely lead to the sale of Kostas Tsimikas, five years after he arrived from Olympiacos for £11.75m. He has two years left on his contract.

There could be a double swoop on Hughes’ former club, with Liverpool also in the race to sign Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen, who has a £50m release clause.

The 20-year-old Spain international has the skill set to flourish under Slot but there is serious competition for his signature from Premier League rivals and further afield. Liverpool currently regard Chelsea as the front-runners.

Ibrahima Konate’s contract situation complicates the situation at centre-back. Talks over an extension to his contract, which is approaching its final year, are dragging on and an agreement remains some way off.

“This is a conversation with the club and we will see,” Konate told reporters amid Sunday’s title celebrations.

If the impasse continues, Liverpool will have a big decision to make. They will not want to lose him for nothing in 2026 but they will prioritise what is best for the team on the field rather than just the bottom line. That was the case when they turned down a bid of £150m for Salah from Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad in 2023.

Despite recent speculation about a possible change of heart from Trent Alexander-Arnold, the England right-back is still expected to join Real Madrid on a free transfer this summer.

His deputy and fellow academy graduate, Conor Bradley, will be backed to step up to play a much bigger role next season. Whether Liverpool recruit another right-back will be influenced by what happens at centre-back. For example, if they sign Huijsen, Jarell Quansah and Joe Gomez would be less likely to be called into central duties, so could provide cover out wide.

Quansah, who has previously attracted interest from Newcastle United, has been linked with a move, but Liverpool aren’t looking to sell him. It would take a very big offer to test that resolve. Senior club sources, speaking anonymously to protect relationship, emphatically dismissed talk of a possible £30m price tag for the 22-year-old.

Midfield

This is the most settled area of the squad.

Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones have enjoyed outstanding seasons. No other central midfielder in the squad has started a Premier League game all season and all are young enough to be fixtures for many years to come.

The biggest question mark surrounds Harvey Elliott’s future. His affinity with the club is undeniable but not playing a bigger role this season has been a source of personal frustration for him. Elliott, 22, has been limited to 189 Premier League minutes across 14 substitute appearances.

His preference is to play as the ‘No 10’ (attacking midfielder) but Slot has opted for the greater physicality and athleticism of Szoboszlai in that position. Elliott’s attitude has remained impeccable and he has made crucial contributions off the bench to help swing tight matches.

Harvey Elliott may leave Anfield this summer (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

“I need to think about what is best for my future,” Elliott recently told the Liverpool Echo. “If I had it my way, that would be here, I would play every game and stay for the rest of my career, but it all depends on managers, the people above.”

Liverpool want Elliott to stay but if he decides he wants to move on this summer, they would reluctantly consider offers. There would be no shortage of interest.

Slot is also planning for next season with Wataru Endo. The Japan captain, whose contract runs until 2027, has only played 157 minutes of Premier League football in 2024-25 but he is regarded as a valuable squad player, adept at helping close out games. Getting sufficient game time before the 2026 World Cup is a consideration for Endo but he is happy and settled at Liverpool.

Gravenberch’s impact in the deeper No 6 role means that signing another holding midfielder is no longer a priority. When Liverpool failed in their pursuit of Martin Zubimendi last summer, they considered Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller as an alternative but opted to push on with what they had.

The plan is to assess young Spanish midfielder Stefan Bajcetic when he returns to Kirkby for pre-season. His fortunes have improved since he swapped a loan move at Red Bull Salzburg for Las Palmas in La Liga in January. The 20-year-old needed regular game time after injuries disrupted his development.

Academy graduate Tyler Morton, who has recovered from shoulder surgery, is expected to leave Liverpool this summer. The 22-year-old is valued at around £20m.

Attack

Darwin Nunez’s third season at Liverpool is set to be his last, with the club in the market for a new No 9. The Uruguay international has only scored seven goals in 43 appearances in all competitions in 2024-25.

Fresh interest from Saudi Arabia is anticipated. Al Nassr were keen in January, with an intermediary indicating to Liverpool that they were willing to pay up to £70m. However, Liverpool made it clear he wasn’t for sale as they vowed to keep the squad together for the rest of the season.

Atletico Madrid and Milan are among the European clubs monitoring Nunez’s situation, with Liverpool prepared to sanction a sale.

Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak is widely admired at Liverpool, but there is an acceptance that deal would be very difficult to pull off, given the talk of a possible £150m valuation. Isak’s team-mate, Anthony Gordon, was a £75m target last summer but Newcastle backed out of the deal when they made other player sales to help resolve their profit and sustainability (PSR) concerns. There have been no suggestions that the deal will be resurrected and he signed a new contract in October.

Liverpool admire Alexander Isak but he would be very expensive (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Other options, such as Hugo Ekitike (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Benjamin Sesko (RB Leipzig), have also been considered.

Salah and Cody Gakpo will stay but it remains to be seen whether Federico Chiesa decides to stick around after struggling to make a mark at Anfield following his £10m move from Juventus last summer.

Part of Chiesa’s failure to kick on, even after recovering from his injury issues, can be explained by the lack of opportunities afforded to him, with Salah so consistent and almost ever-present wide on the right. There’s little appetite internally to offload Chiesa, but offers to take him back to Italy are expected.

The futures of Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota have been the subject of speculation. Diaz continues to be linked with Barcelona but he’s coming off the back of his best season for Liverpool, who do not want to lose him. The same goes for Jota. There’s no sign of either pushing for a move.

Liverpool are braced for plenty of interest in 19-year-old winger Ben Doak, whose successful loan spell at Middlesbrough was curtailed by injury. It would take a bid of more than £30m for them to sanction the sale of the Scotland international.

Additional reporting: Oliver Kay

(Top photos: Dean Huijsen, left, and Darwin Nunez; Getty Images)

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