Liverpool have one game left before both the transfer window shuts and the international break starts – so this is the beginning of a busy week!
Shaqiri sold and Woodburn exits on loan
Two attackers will no longer be part of Jurgen Klopp‘s squad this season – or at all, for one of them.
Xherdan Shaqiri has completed his move to Ligue 1 side Lyon, a deal worth around £9.5m to the Reds seeing him join the likes of Wijnaldum, Grujic and Wilson in leaving permanently this summer, pushing the income from transfers the Reds have received above the £40m mark.
In another attacking exit, Ben Woodburn has completed his loan move north of the border.
The versatile 21-year-old shone in pre-season but really needs some senior action in a positive loan deal this time and he’s off to Hearts for the campaign.
Salah call-up blocked and Brazilian trio to follow
International breaks aren’t just an irritation because of the travel, timings and fact national teams are regularly set to play three matches again.
Now we’ve also got Covid restrictions to worry about once more, with England still having plenty of nations on the red list – meaning individuals must quarantine when they return from them, including sportspeople.
Mohamed Salah‘s call-up for Egypt, therefore, has reportedly been blocked by the Reds as the nation is indeed still on the red list, though there are mixed views on whether he can play one of the games in Gabon.
By the same token, Liverpool’s three Brazilians – Fab, Ali and Bob – are likely to face a call-up for World Cup qualifiers against Argentina, Peru and Chile, but all four of those countries remain on England’s red list. Expect further developments and negotiations during the course of the week.
Latest Liverpool FC news
- Jurgen Klopp is eagerly anticipating running the rule over his two left-backs this season after Tsimikas hit the ground running
- And the boss has delivered a very strong response as to why the Reds are nothing like Man City and PSG, and why he loves the upsets football can still cause
- One youngster who impressed in pre-season has already been pencilled in to get game time for the senior side this season in the domestic cups
Latest transfer chat elsewhere
- Adama Traore could become a Spurs player this week with Nuno keen on a £40m bid for his former winger
- Ruben Neves is the man United (heh) want to plug their massive midfield gaps, but they’ll only offer Wolves a Twix and a packet of Jaffa Cakes for him. However, the entire believability of the piece is somewhat let down by quotes from “xx”, as apparently Bruno Lage’s name is too boring to type out
- Granit Xhaka has apparently signed a new Arsenal contract and the owner accidentally confirmed it in the matchday programme. So we can officially assess the off-field organisation at the club to be about as porous as their on-field defence
Tweet of the day and match of the night
Joel Matip – Deep Pockets V3pic.twitter.com/dTtrG66RWl
— ?? (@Bk8iP3) August 19, 2021
Tonight’s late fixture sees West Ham and Leicester face off in the Prem.
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