Two signings confirmed & new Women’s manager – Friday’s Liverpool FC News & Rumour Roundup

September 14, 2018
Henry Jackson

We round up the latest Liverpool news and transfer rumours on Friday, on the eve of the Reds’ latest Premier League meeting with Tottenham.

Main Headlines

Henderson Makes Big Claim

Jordan Henderson will be battling for a starting berth on Saturday lunchtime, as Liverpool take on Spurs at Wembley to kick off the return of domestic action.

The skipper has hailed this current crop of Reds players, claiming they are arguably the best team he has played in during his career, speaking to LiverpoolFC.com:

“Some of the football we’ve been playing over the past year or so, if not longer, is right up there with the best teams I’ve ever been involved in really—if not the best.

“We’ve had some fantastic players, the likes of Stevie [Gerrard], [Luis] Suarez and [Philippe] Coutinho, people like that—amazing players.

“But I feel, now, as a team everybody is right at it and that obviously comes from the manager.

“Since the manager came in, I feel we’ve been going in the right direction and now for us it’s about taking that final step and going on to win silverware, because that’s massive for us.”

Considering Henderson was a key part of Liverpool’s fantastic 2013/14 side, it shows how highly he rates Jurgen Klopp‘s class of 2018/19.

Van Dijk Primed for Tough Run

Virgil van Dijk has become arguably Liverpool’s most important player, considering the authority he possesses at centre-back.

The Dutchman will be vital in the Reds’ tricky upcoming run of fixtures across three competitions, but told LiverpoolFC.com he has total faith in them thriving during that period:

“I am very confident in our team and in the players we have.

“We have great depth in the squad, so we should be able to keep the same high standards we want to keep.

“We know it is going to be very hard, but we need to give every game 100 percent, every day 100 percent, but I am not worried that it won’t happen.”

Van Dijk is proving to be worth every penny of the £75 million Liverpool paid for him in January—another dominant display this weekend would do nicely.

Reds Sign Young Duo

Liverpool have completed the signings of Guyana international Kai McKenzie-Lyle and Netherlands U17 regular Ki-Jana Hoever.

Goalkeeper McKenzie-Lyle, 6’7″ tall, arrives from Barnet having impressed during a trial with the U23s this summer, providing competition for Kamil Grabara and Caoimhin Kelleher.

Sixteen-year-old Hoever is a hugely exciting prospect from Ajax, capable of thriving as either a centre-back or a right-back.

He will initially join up with Barry Lewtas‘ U18s squad.

Neymar Being Saved for Liverpool

Liverpool have an exciting Champions League clash to look forward to on Tuesday night, with much-fancied Paris Saint-Germain making the trip to Anfield.

Someone who is being wrapped in cotton wool for the big game is Neymar, with the Brazilian superstar set to be a key man next week.

PSG boss Thomas Tuchel has all but confirmed that he won’t risk the 26-year-old in Friday’s Ligue 1 meeting with Saint-Etienne.

“What’s the risk for him [Friday] night? Can he play a whole match or less and still not look at the game in Liverpool?” Tuchel asked reporters.

“There was the match played Wednesday night, the flight, the jet-lag, how he gets back…It’s the same for Marquinhos.”

Neymar better prepare for some tracking back at Anfield, because Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s going to come up against him!

Southgate Eyeing up Solanke

Dominic Solanke could experience a tricky season at Liverpool, with a lack of playing time potentially leading him to rue not heading out on loan.

The 21-year-old is a footballer of genuine promise, however, and it seems as though he is still in the thoughts of England manager Gareth Southgate.

According to the Times‘ Paul Joyce, Southgate sees the youngster “as a solution to England’s striker shortage,” although he does remain “concerned about his lack of game time at Liverpool.”

Solanke is still waiting to be named in his first matchday squad of the season for the Reds, and that is unlikely to change at Spurs on Saturday.

He will be buoyed by Southgate’s comments, though, as he looks to add to the solitary senior England cap he earned against Brazil in November last year.

Dugout Change for Liverpool

After a summer of considerable change and just two competitive games, Neil Redfearn has resigned as manager of the Liverpool FC Women.

The club confirmed in a statement on Friday afternoon that he “has left his role as head coach with immediate effect,” before wishing the 53-year-old “the best of luck for the future.”

Chris Kirkland, who joined the Women’s side as goalkeeping coach in July, will take over as caretaker-manager for Sunday’s Continental Tyres Cup clash with Durham.

It would be remiss to speculate at this stage as to the nature of Redfearn’s departure, but it seems unlikely his exit was performance-related.

His former players took to Twitter after the news broke to express their sadness, with Satara Murray writing: “My heart is broken. This man made football so much fun again.”

“Absolutely gutted. Not only an excellent manager but an even better person, a manager you truly wanted to play for,” Laura Coombs added.