Liverpool look as though they could offload two young talents this summer as Jurgen Klopp trims his squad in preparation for future additions.
Brewster with a buy-back?
There remain three options for Rhian Brewster‘s immediate future and each look as likely as the other right now.
Keep, loan or sell? The Reds haven’t decided, say the Echo, but Sky Sports say otherwise.
Their take is that the Reds are actively considering a sale, with Villa, Brighton and Sheffield United all among the potential buyers.
However, we’d be looking to do business with a buy-back clause included in the deal – so there’s still clearly a feeling that Brewster will go on to be a big player, with more games and goals behind him.
Wilson wanted by Villa
Not as highly rated as Brewster any more, it seems, but still with a similar fee attached.
The Reds want £20 million or so for winger Harry Wilson, but Aston Villa‘s efforts so far only extend to £12m.
A report in the Mirror says they’re “waiting to see if the Reds blink first” – so judging by our relative inactivity so far and the history of sales that Michael Edwards has, they’ll be waiting a while.
Wilson has a long-term contract and few would be worried about him taking, for example, the place of Xherdan Shaqiri‘s involvement in the squad from last season.
Perhaps matters will kick into gear more as the season now gets underway.
Seniors and hopefuls
What about the rest of Klopp’s options? They can come from both call-ups to youngsters and repositioning of the established names.
- Fabinho is likely to be the Reds’ “emergency cover” at centre-back, with no direct replacement signed for Lovren
- The latest night of internationals saw Andy Robbo win a match-winning penalty
- And the U23s rounded off their pre-season with a 4-0 win, giving them 15 goals this summer in total
Quickfire LFC news
- A new-look U18 squad includes that ball-boy from the Trent-Origi-Barca corner (TIA)
- Coutinho looks likely to stay at Barca and 15 more games will trigger another £4.4m payment (football.london)
- And LFC Women forward Rinsola Babajide has earned a first England senior call-up after a weekend assist (LFC)
Around the Prem
- The plan on getting fans back into grounds and all the latest details are here (TIA)
- The sides in Europe last season will have to pay back a total of £519m to broadcasters, after an agreement with UEFA (Echo)
- Villa had been linked with Divock Origi, but have now all-but-signed Ollie Watkins from Bournemouth (BBC)
Stupid rumour of the day
Burnley already said Tarkowski would be £50m. West Ham have this summer bid £20m. It was rejected. Now the Hammers are going back in with a second bid: £30m. It will be rejected.
Then the Hammers get to tell their fans they “did everything possible” to secure the transfer, and can loan Phil Jones instead.
Tweet of the day
Who would you choose as PFA Players’ Player of the Year?#PFAawards #POTY (Poll 2 of 2)
— Professional Footballers’ Association (@PFA) September 6, 2020
What we’re reading
An interview with Sander Westerveld, who explains the “harsh” treatment at going from No. 1 to No. 4 goalkeeper for the Reds in the space of an international break, on Planet Football.
Worth watching tonight
Nations League, take your pick. England, Belgium, France and Portugal all in action on the various Sky Sports channels at 7.45pm.
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