A major squad shake-up is on the horizon at Anfield, with reports naming four players whose futures Liverpool have already made decisions on despite the fact a new manager isn’t yet in place.
Jurgen Klopp will bring his storied nine-year stint with Liverpool to a close this summer. The Reds’ season has crumbled down the stretch, though the League Cup has been banked and the Reds will fight to the very end in the Premier League title race.
Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim is the hot favourite to take the reins. Amorim generally favours a 3-4-3 formation and will be given license to shape the squad he inherits as he sees fit.
However, according to two reports from Football Insider, a handful of player decisions have already been made ahead of Liverpool’s managerial appointment.
Firstly, FI state Fabio Carvalho will not be sold or loaned out a third time. Instead, he’ll be given a chance to prove his worth on Merseyside.
Liverpool succeeded at the second time of asking when landing Carvalho in the summer of 2022. The Reds had initially hoped to sign the former Fulham man six months prior, though failure to complete their deal before the January transfer deadline passed resulted in a six-month delay.
However, upon arriving at Anfield Carvalho has barely featured for his new club. The 21-year-old racked up just 638 minutes of action in his debut season and was duly loaned out to RB Leipzig ahead of the current campaign.
The spell in Germany did not pan out as any party would have hoped, with Carvalho restricted to just a single start in the Bundesliga.
The end result saw Liverpool cut the deal short in January before a second loan stint – this time to Championship side Hull City – was sanctioned.
Carvalho has looked a man reborn since moving to Hull and has bagged eight goals in 16 appearances for the club.
No options to buy telegraphed Liverpool intentions
According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Carvalho’s return to form has roused widespread interest in the player.
Loan club Hull have also signalled their intention to sign Carvalho outright if they win promotion to the Premier League.
But per a fresh update from FI, Carvalho will be given another shot to show what he’s made of under a new Reds boss next term.
Liverpool have always retained faith Carvalho will come good and that belief was evidenced by the fact they refused to agree options to buy in their loan deals with Leipzig and Hull.
Three veterans departing
Elsewhere, a second report from FI stated veteran trio Adrian, Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara won’t be offered new deals.
All three are out of contract this summer and as such, they’re expected to depart as free agents.
Adrian’s importance to Liverpool has nosedived amid the rise of Caoimhin Kelleher as the excellent back-up to Alisson Becker.
Matip will go down as one of the greatest free agent pick-ups in Liverpool and Premier League history.
The 32-year-old will forever be fondly remembered at Anfield and played over 200 times for the Reds amid regular battles with injury.
Finally, Thiago, 33, is also expected to leave and he too has struggled to stay fit for large parts of his Anfield tenure.
Thiago’s exit in particular will shred a sizeable chunk off the wage bill and aid Liverpool’s new manager in investing heavily in the market.
