More than another four years of Jurgen Klopp? Yes please. The Reds boss has left a future extension open, amid today’s rumour mill.
Leeds wanted Wilson…but pulled out of deal
Leeds “had started work” on a deal for Harry Wilson, says David Ornstein of the Athletic, but a bid never materialised.
According to the report that’s due to Marcelo Bielsa, who “decided he wasn’t the right player for him”.
The Liverpool winger showed last year with Bournemouth he can be an effective player at Premier League level, though he arguably also showed he won’t be near the Reds’ first team.
But Leeds have opted against, in the end, and so far there have been no other offers that have come to light – and certainly not for the amounts the Reds are hoping for.
It has been oft-reported that Liverpool want around £20m for Wilson.
Klopp says he could stay on beyond 2024
We all know Jurgen loves to stay a long time, but if he does see out his deal to 2024 – and there’s no reason to think he won’t right now – it’ll mark almost nine years at the helm, basically an eternity in football terms.
Klopp rightly doesn’t want to look too far ahead, but when asked about a potential extension to stay even longer at Anfield, he certainly wasn’t shutting down the possibility.
“I know that I won’t, after four more years at Liverpool, stop and then start somewhere else the next day,” he said.
“That will definitely not happen regardless.”
Klopp said he would “think about” extending his deal, with circumstances at the time likely to decide his eventual choice.
Full-back news and Europe
Both sides of defence get the headlines today, though not the usual duo you’d expect to hear about.
- Kostas Tsimikas is back in training with the Reds after reports of a positive coronavirus test during the international break
- Neco Williams has been named on the 40-strong shortlist for the prestigious Golden Boy award among Europe’s top youngsters
- And the Reds now know the five biggest sides they could face in the Champions League group stage, which include Ajax, Barcelona and Dortmund
Quickfire LFC news
- Lincoln boss Michael Appleton can’t wait to face “best in the world” manager Jurgen Klopp in the League Cup (TIA)
- The Reds and Arsenal are being linked with Sporting left-back Nuno Mendes…again…still doesn’t seem likely (A Bola)
- Muriel says brother Alisson has likely played a role in the Reds signing Brazilian goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga from Fluminense (UOL)
Around the Prem
- Spurs will offer Dele Alli in part exchange for Gareth Bale, which is nice of them considering Real Madrid don’t play a No. 10 and in any case have Eden Hazard, Marco Asensio, Isco and Martin Odegaard, all who can play the role and are many times better than the out-of-form Tottenham man (Mail)
- Everton will listen to offers for Bernard, Sigurdsson, Iwobi and Kean, which says a lot about how bad last year’s summer shopping was (Mirror)
- West Ham are battling Inter Milan for Chelsea left-back Emerson Palmieri and we honestly don’t know who to judge most harshly in this rumour (Independent)
- And Aston Villa have signed Emi Martinez for £17m, who would probably have been about 10 per cent of that fee all of four months ago (BBC)
Good news of the day
Not Premier League-related, but hopefully something to have a knock-on effect at our level down the line.
Nine games from the Football League have been selected to have 1,000 fans present this weekend, a trial run across the Championship, League One and League Two.
Fingers crossed all goes well and the numbers can be bumped up in future – at 1,000 capacity attendances, Premier League clubs won’t get involved as they’ll run at a loss for those games.
Tweet of the day
Ole trying to get Regulion, Sancho, Belingham, Bale, Haaland, Thiago, Gabriel and Jack Grealish pic.twitter.com/APnigBMwK8
— Sandro (@Sandro_GLC18) September 15, 2020
What we’re reading
A tactical look at Timo Werner’s debut for Chelsea, on the Athletic.
And in the Guardian, an explanation of how football as a whole has lost an estimated £11 billion to coronavirus.
Worth watching tonight
PSG vs Metz at 8pm. Champions League final three weeks ago, two league defeats since the restart. Oh and seven players positive for the ‘rona, three sent-off in midweek, Neymar in trouble for apparent homophobic comments, Di Maria spitting at people…it’s going well.
Fan Comments