Liverpool looking at signing 22-year-old player who once seriously annoyed Virgil van Dijk
The Reds are about to be given a dress rehearsal for life without Salah, as he links up with Egypt for AFCON. With some big fixtures on the horizon, Liverpool could be missing their talisman for more than a month.
If rumours are to be believed, then they could soon be feeling Salah’s absence for much longer than that. The press continue to link Liverpool’s Egyptian King with a transfer to Saudi Arabia at the end of the season.
That may or may not happen. But with Salah now the wrong side of 30, the Reds do need to start planning for what comes next. With that in mind, Football Transfers have today linked Liverpool with a move for Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise.
It isn’t just Olise mentioned as being on Jurgen Klopp’s radar, though. They also claim that the Reds are ‘eyeing’ a deal for Leeds United’s Crysencio Summerville.
For the time being, it’s said to be ‘unclear’ whether Liverpool are targeting just one of Olise and Summerville, or whether they want them both.
Liverpool eyeing Summerville move
Given that Leeds are now in the Championship, this might be an underwhelming link for some. How can a player in the second division replace one of Liverpool’s greatest ever players?
We’d be minded to agree with that, and if the Reds really do want Olise and Summerville, it would probably be wise to bring them in together.
Having said that, Summerville is clearly a very talented player. Freed from the Premier League shackles this season, the Dutchman has been one of Leeds’ best players.
With 12 goals and six assists, Summerville is statistically one of the most productive players in the Championship.
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has received praise from a teammate for his displays in training.
Alisson has once again been brilliant for Liverpool this season. Following on from a similarly stellar campaign last time out, the Brazilian has underlined his credentials as the best goalie in the world.
And judging by the reaction of one of his Reds colleagues yesterday, they’re in no doubt that Alisson deserves that title.
We don’t see too much of the 31-year-old in the latest ‘Inside Training’ video from Liverpool’s YouTube channel. The spotlight seems to often be on other members of the Reds’ current goalkeeping fraternity instead.
But there is still room for a standout moment from Alisson. It comes with Curtis Jones lining up a shot during a shooting drill. Having read Jones’ movements, Alisson dives to his left to send the effort pinging off the post.
It was a top save from the Brazil international, with shouts of “that’s my goalkeeper. That’s my goalkeeper,” being heard from the rest of the group. To be honest, it sounds a lot like Virgil van Dijk. But with the camera pointed at a smiling Ali, we couldn’t say for sure. What a ‘keeper.
That’s my goalkeeper
Ask any Liverpool fan and they’ll tell you straight. There’s absolutely no one else in the world we’d rather have between the sticks right now.
In our opinion, Alisson has proven beyond all doubt over the last 18 months that he’s the best there is.
This week, claims came in from former Brazil goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes that Manchester City’s Ederson is a ‘more complete’ stopper.
As he’s previously been a professional, Gomes’ voice obviously carries a certain amount of weight. But we’re not having it. There’s no way Ederson can even hold a candle to Liverpool’s No.1.
In terms of using the ball with his feet, the City man is unmatched. But in everything else, give us Alisson any day of the week.
It will be interesting to see whether Ali is the man chosen for Liverpool’s trip to Arsenal tomorrow. With Caoimhin Kelleher currently the Europa League goalkeeper, you feel it will hinge on what Klopp is planning to do in the knockouts of that competition.
If Alisson is due to be restored in Europe, then Kelleher will probably line up tomorrow. If not, perhaps we’ll see our main man at the Emirates.
Either way, Alisson has been gearing up for Sunday’s game in style. My goalkeeper, your goalkeeper, our goalkeeper. The best around.
Liverpool fans are once again dreaming about the elusive prospect of signing Kylian Mbappe. Yes, it’s that time of the year again when a section of the club’s supporter base becomes a little delirious with Mbappe mania.
It’s happened before, and it will probably happen again. The Frenchman is one of the best players in the world and when someone like Julien Laurens is saying he ‘really, really likes’ the club it’s hard not to get carried away.
But there has to be some realism involved in talks over a potential move for Mbappe. Liverpool would need to pay a lot of money to land the Frenchman – even if he doesn’t extend his deal at Paris Saint Germain.
Mbappe will demand a huge wage, and in the past Liverpool have been very reticent to offset the club’s tight wage structure. There is no indication yet that the club is willing to compromise this in order to sign Mbappe.
Michail Antonio can’t see Liverpool signing Mbappe
That’s the point West Ham United attacker Michail Antonio has been making on the BBC’s The Player Channel Podcast.
“I don’t want the Liverpool fans firing shots,” Antonio said.
“Can Liverpool pay the salary? If he is going anywhere it would be Real Madrid. If he is coming to the Premier League, it’s going to be Man City. They are the only two clubs that are going to be paying the wages. There is no-one else.”
Unfortunately, Antonio is probably right. Pulling off a deal for Mbappe seems unfeasible for Liverpool at this present moment.
The likelihood is that this Mbappe mania will pass without anything tangible as well. But that won’t stop fans dreaming. And in all fairness with Liverpool you just never know. The club has shown in the past anything is possible – on and off the pitch.
Liverpool’s second game against Arsenal in two weeks is likely to be just as tight as the first one.
The Reds and the Gunners cancelled each other out at Anfield just before Christmas, 1-1 the final scoreline.
Since then, the two teams have fared rather differently. Liverpool have won both of their games to leave them top of the Premier League. Arsenal meanwhile lost two out of two to trail the Reds by five points.
But this is the FA Cup, things may be different. Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has already predicted his old team to take a narrow 2-1 win on Sunday and speaking on his Seaman Says podcast, Merson’s old teammate David Seaman says he’s going with the same result.
“I’m going to go with a 2-1 Arsenal win,” the 60-year-old predicted. “I always remember when we were in the draw for the FA Cup and Man United got Liverpool, we would be like ‘yes, one of them are going out’. So that’s what they are all thinking about this one, Arsenal or Liverpool are going out.
“It will depend on strength of teams that each manager puts out. It will be a great game.”
Liverpool prepare for Arsenal trip
It wouldn’t be a surprise if Seaman ended up being right about Sunday’s game. Arsenal may not be in the best of form, but they’re still a formidable side.
Given the timing of the fixture, we’d also expect that Mikel Arteta will go near-enough full-strength for Liverpool’s visit.
The Gunners don’t have another game for almost two weeks and Arteta will want to arrest the recent slump. Win here, and they’ll feel buoyant once more, but a loss could really hit them hard.
The Spanish coach will want to take as little risks as possible and may want to capitalise on Jurgen Klopp making some changes himself.
Had Liverpool also had the luxury of 13 days off following the game, Klopp may have been tempted to go stronger than he would usually for an FA Cup third round game.
But the Reds are playing again on Wednesday against Fulham in the Carabao Cup. That game is at Anfield though and is just the first of a two-legged semi-final, too. Liverpool also don’t play for 11 days on the back of it.
As a result, it seems likely that Jurgen will go for a strong side at the Emirates, before rotating a little more mid-week. Nevertheless, Liverpool are missing a few key players anyway, with Dominik Szoboszlai the latest injury problem.
Like Seaman says, the result could well depend on the teams both managers deploy. Either way, it’ll be tight. Hopefully the former England goalie ends up being wrong on this one.
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