Thiago interest confirmed & Gini ‘very high’ on Koeman wish list – Liverpool FC Roundup

August 20, 2020
This Is Anfield

Liverpool today learned their Premier League opponents for the opening weekend and every other fixture, while the rumours of midfield changes grow stronger.

The midfield conundrum continues apace

Liverpool definitely have an interest in Thiago Alcantara – that’s the big development from a local reporting perspective.

The Independent’s Melissa Reddy has clarified that the Reds have no financial barrier to signing the Bayern Munich man, but rather than Jurgen Klopp is more concerned with keeping the balance of numbers and happiness in his squad.

Midfield is fairly packed, so it might be a ‘one out, then one in’ situation.

As for the ‘one out’ possibility, it continues to seem that Gini Wijnaldum is the biggest candidate.

New Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman reportedly has our No. 5 at the top of his wish list for a summer restructuring and has told Gini not to sign an extension with the Reds.

More on those rumours and the potential knock-on effects can be seen right here.

Fans back at the match

Liverpool’s first fixture with fans in attendance for well over 150 days will take place in the coming week.

Our friendly at RB Salzburg will have 1250 supporters in attendance, with the Austrian side set to offer a ballot for season ticket holders to attend the game.

The boss is happy we’ve found “this calibre of opponent” in such a short space of time after pre-season plans had to be changed late on.

It’ll be back to familiar ground for the likes of Mane, Keita and Minamino, but the entire first-team squad were at Red Bull Arena just last December for a Champions League group stage game.

There were nearly 30,000 there then, but at least this is a positive step forward to what might be seen at Anfield in a few more months!

Happy fixture list day!

The new season is all over the place, isn’t it?! We’re preparing for 20/21, Europe hasn’t finished yet in 19/20 and some countries are already a couple of games into the new campaign! Anyway, the new season fixtures are out…

Here’s the complete list of Liverpool’s Premier League fixtures for 2020/21
And a more detailed look at who we’ll face after each Champions League match when rotation could kick in
Finally, mark these games in your calendar for getting your Amazon Prime subscription sorted – two matches coming up in December!

Quickfire LFC news

Dejan Lovren says Salah wants to “score more than Mane” but says it’s a healthy rivalry which helps the team (Goal)

Italian media is contradictory over a potential Lazio move for Xherdan Shaqiri, with different outlets saying he is a €12m target or is too expensive to sign (SportWitness)

Rhian Brewster was named Swansea’s best newcomer of the season for his brilliant half-campaign on loan (Twitter)

And Adrian says the whole squad was awaiting the fixtures this morning, but isn’t fussed who the Reds face first (LFC)

Around the Prem

Mourinho is desperate to bring Bale back to Spurs – and who wouldn’t be, after seeing the work ethic and dressing room functionality he can bring (Cuatro)

Thiago Silva has been “offered” to Chelsea and that’s definitely what they need, a slow, low-cost, short-term addition to the back line (Telegraph)

Man United will offer Aston Villa Sergio Romero as a part-exchange offer for Jack Grealish and we can’t begin to imagine just how enticing that will be (Mail)

And Fulham and Wolves will compete with Everton for the signing of Watford midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure, which would be a fourth attempted signing the Toffees miss out on already (ES)

Stupid rumour of the day

Is this the most stupid update ever? Sancho to United is apparently being held up by a lack of “agreement on personal terms,” say ESPN. That and, you know, Dortmund not actually accepting a bid.

So, to clarify: No deal with the player and no deal with the club who owns him. Sounds like good progress.