Latest loan confirmed & Shaqiri reveals why he “decided to stay” – Liverpool FC Roundup

October 6, 2020
This Is Anfield

Liverpool had a quiet end to the transfer window, but there’s plenty of news as we head into the first international week of the latest season interruption.

Colombian continues his meandering career

Remember Anderson Arroyo? Maybe yes, maybe not; either way, he hasn’t yet played for Liverpool and isn’t likely to – now aged 21, he’s just joined Salamanca on loan for his fourth temporary spell away from the Reds since joining in 2018.

The full-back was a promising youngster and featured at the U20 World Cup, but he hasn’t really made a mark at senior level anywhere yet.

In terms of the Reds, he has very little hope of being awarded a work permit without becoming a senior international, so the constant process of farming him out on loan looks set to continue, most likely until his contract expires.

Last season he made two sub appearances in the Czech top flight; this year he’ll be plying his trade, or perhaps just training, in the second tier in Spain.

Shaqiri’s tell-all on rumours and staying put

It looked for a while as though Xherdan Shaqiri would be one of several to leave the Reds…but ultimately almost everyone has ended up staying.

There won’t be too many fans disappointed that the Swiss winger wasn’t sold, as he’s a match-winner on his day, but hopefully there will be significantly more involvement for him going forward than we’ve seen over the last 12 months.

Shaqiri says he’s looking forward to the fight for regular action after the international break:

“I have a long-term contract, and I really feel good. I have decided to stay with Liverpool. In football, there is always speculation…

…then [I will] attack [for a place in the team] again when I go back to Liverpool.”

But that challenge will only come after a 10-day period of isolation, as Shaq is the latest Red to have tested positive for coronavirus.

It all but rules him out of the derby, as he likely won’t leave Switzerland until after the self-isolation period.

And that, in turn, might have another knock-on effect: the Reds have to leave one senior non-homegrown player out of their registered Premier League squad, with Shaqiri appearing to be one of two options available.

International news

Two weeks of the most ill-advised travel, meet-ups with people from all over the world and pointless risk of injury and infection imaginable. It’s as if the international calendar is set by the government…

21 Reds are set to jet off around the globe, trying to avoid tackles and coronavirus in equal measure
Wales manager Ryan Giggs says Neco Williams will have to learn to deal with criticism as part of playing for a big club
And here are the key dates for your diary for the rest of the month, including fixtures, the Champions League starting, loan deadlines and more

Quickfire LFC news

Klopp has been kept up-to-date on Jadon Sancho’s future after United’s embarrassing failure in the market (TIA)

Ex-Reds striker Stan Collymore says Virgil van Dijk didn’t show enough leadership in our thrashing by Aston Villa (Goal)

New Reds kit supplier Nike has been valued as the ‘most marketed brand’ in Sport, ahead of Emirates Airlines and Adidas (50mm)

And LFC Women are sitting atop the Championship table after a strong start to life in the second tier (TIA)

Around the Prem

Despite all the talk of cost-cutting and no money to spend, Premier League sides have unsurprisingly made the third-highest combined outlay in history on transfers (TIA)

Man United have contacted Mauricio Pochettino to be on standby for when Ole’s handling of the wheel proves even more useless than it already has been (Star)

Chelsea backup defender Fikayo Tomori turned down a move to West Ham 10 minutes before the deadline last night, presumably after realising it meant he’d have to play for West Ham (Express)

And Man City turned down a £20m bid from Barcelona yesterday for Eric Garcia, which is all rather bizarre as it leaves City with too many centre-backs, Barca with barely any and Garcia knowing he’ll leave in a year on a free anyway (Sky)

Stupid story of deadline day

How blind are Arsenal to the goings-on of the world? They binned off around 50 employees, then handed Willian and Aubameyang absolutely astronomical contracts.

Yesterday they ‘fired’ Gunnarsaurus, their long-standing mascot (well, the person within the suit), just as they paid the £50m release clause for Thomas Partey.

And now they look even more like the bad guys, as their own player and bottomless money pit Mesut Ozil has stepped in to say he’ll reimburse the dinosaur’s salary if they hire him back.

At least that’s one assist he’ll get this season.