With the dust barely settled following the 2013/14 season’s end, reports suggest Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has already drawn up an extensive list of players for sale.
Reports on Thursday emerged detailing a thrirteen-strong list of potential departures from Anfield this summer, with The Guardian positing last summer’s Spanish signings Luis Alberto and Iago Aspas at the head of the queue.
The pair, signed for a combined fee of around £15 million in 2013, have failed to impress Rodgers this season, featuring 23 times between them as they struggled to get to grips with life in the Premier League.
It’s claimed Aspas “would be open to a return to Spain,” whilst it is unclear as to whether 21-year-old Alberto will be available on a permanent transfer or on loan.
Aly Cissokho and Victor Moses will both return to their parent clubs after not impressing on loan at the Anfield club.
Despite proving his Premier League credentials with a temporary spell at Stoke City in 2013/14, Moroccan winger Oussama Assaidi is also up for sale, and is joined by goalkeeper Pepe Reina, local lad Martin Kelly and Uruguayan central defender Sebastian Coates.
It is also believed that Kolo Toure may leave the club over the summer, with the Ivorian seeking talks with Rodgers as to his future role at Liverpool; the defender’s contract runs until 2015.
More surprisingly, Fabio Borini and Suso, two players expected to return to the first-team fold next season, are included in The Guardian’s list.
Borini scored seven goals in 32 appearances for Sunderland last season, whilst Suso has impressed with La Liga relegation strugglers Almeria.
Academy products Conor Coady and Jack Robinson are also under threat, as per The Telegraph, who suggest they “will be given the opportunity to pursue their career elsewhere for the right price.”
The Telegraph also report that long-serving first-team players Lucas Leiva and Daniel Agger would be available for the right price.
The Liverpool careers of the pair have waned in recent years, with the Brazilian Lucas struggling with injuries and vice-captain Agger in and out of the starting XI following the summer acquisition of Mamadou Sakho.
Subject to interest from Manchester City and Barcelona last summer, it is suggested that the club “would expect more than £12 million if [Agger] was sold.”
The future of Lucas seems to be in the midfielder’s hands as he “would undoubtedly be retained as a squad player if he wished, but he is at a point in his career where he wants to be a permanent starter.”
Rafa Benitez’s Napoli have been linked with the 27-year-old in the past, and this summer he “would command a considerable fee if sold but will not be short of admirers should he decide on a fresh challenge.”
With a Champions League campaign looming, Brendan Rodgers looks to be giving his squad a much needed makeover – an interesting summer to come, for sure.
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