Arne Slot was directly asked about whether Liverpool could replace Darwin Nunez with Alexander Isak in the coming weeks, giving a typically coy response.
Liverpool have agreed a deal worth upwards of £46 million with Al-Hilal for Nunez, and This Is Anfield understands the club are exploring the market for a replacement.
The favourite remains Isak, who was subject of a failed £110 million bid from Anfield but remains exiled from Newcastle‘s first team as he attempts to force his way out.
A renewed pursuit is expected once Newcastle source a replacement, but Slot would not be drawn on Liverpool’s interest in the Swede when speaking on Friday.
“As you know from me, and I think every manager works like this, you never talk about players that are not yours,” Slot told reporters at the AXA Training Centre.
“So I can talk to you about Hugo, who we’ve signed recently and has done really well until now.
“We are very happy with the squad we have and there’s every reason to be happy about that, because we won the league last season.
“OK, players left, but we’ve brought players in as well and youngsters are doing good.
“So at this moment in time Darwin might leave, indeed, but things are not signed yet. We need to wait maybe a few days before that’s completely done, but there is indeed a chance that he’s going to leave.”
Liverpool have also sanctioned the sale of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich while they lost Diogo Jota in tragic circumstances last month.
The sale of Nunez would therefore reduced the senior attacking options available to Slot, but while he conceded that the club are “always looking” for deals, the head coach insisted he is happy with his current depth.
“I think, we think, we already have a lot of attacking power in our team,” he explained.
“I think about Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa, Hugo Ekitike, Mo Salah, Jeremie Frimpong who play as a right winger, Florian Wirtz who can play as a left winger.
“I already feel I have a lot of attacking options in my current squad, but as always as a club, we are always looking at the chances in the market.
“But that can also be in the midfield or in the last line.”
Chiesa is another player who could depart before the end of the window, though there are high hopes around 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha to step up as a genuine first-team option.
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