Liverpool tipped to move for three Premier League stars

Liverpool transfer news - Liverpool tipped to move for three Premier League stars

Today's Liverpool FC transfer news sees speculation and hypotheticals fill the void

Blue Monday (Jan 19) is fast approaching, and doom and gloom are the orders of the day. Mo Salah, who is expected to stay put at Anfield until at least the end of the season (The Athletic), faced the heartbreak of another AFCON exit last night (Jan 14), missing out on the final to Senegal - again - thanks to a lone goal from former teammate Sadio Mané.

Mané will face Everton target Youssef En-Nesyri in Sunday's final (Jan 18) against hosts Morocco. Egypt, meanwhile, will now compete in a third-place playoff against Nigeria on Saturday (Jan 17) before their talisman heads back to Merseyside for discussions with Anfield top brass over his future.

Over at Real Madrid, new head coach and former Liverpool right-back Álvaro Arbeloa is nursing his wounds after a bruising Copa del Rey exit to LaLiga2 minnows Albacete (Jan 14), having replaced another Reds legend in Xabi Alonso just two days earlier. Given he successfully resisted the urge to substitute Vinícius Júnior, however, Arbeloa's job is probably secure after the 3-2 defeat.

And Manchester United - well, they're just Manchester United. Having crawled to a miserable 15th place last season, Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe will no doubt be hoping new managerial appointee Michael Carrick can repeat last season's success at Championship outfit Middlesbrough by taking the Red Devils to the dizzying heights of 10th.

With Manchester City, Arsenal and last season's Europa League final vanquishers Tottenham Hotspur approaching in Carrick's first four games, opportunity awaits for the next great to step up from the Old Trafford boot room and follow in Ole Gunnar Solskjær's footsteps.

As for the transfer market, Liverpool are looking increasingly likely to let another January pass with no reinforcements through the door. Richard Hughes could be forced into an early move for Marc Guéhi should Manchester City make their move, while pundits and hacks alike are fumbling down the back of the sofa for names that could solve Liverpool's defensive issues and the small matter of the homegrown quota - more on that later.

Here, we round-up all the latest gossip and rumours circulating around the Reds' potential transfer dealings.

Guéhi watch

After the Crystal Palace captain's absence from the hump day transfer news round-up, Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg has seen to it that the 25-year-old is very much back on the agenda today. The German reporter will be making another ominous appearance today, so best get used to it.

On X (Twitter), Plettenberg provided an update on the Eagles' asking price, and the status of the centre-half's interest from the four clubs linked most heavily with him this month: Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Bayern Munich.

Plettenberg said: "We've been told in the event of a winter move for Marc Guéhi, Crystal Palace are said to be asking for a fee of around £35–40 million. Manchester City are considering whether to submit an offer. As things stand, Guéhi is favouring a free transfer in the summer. Interested for the summer: Bayern, Liverpool and Arsenal."

As has been widely reported, Guéhi favours a summer move due to the sizable signing-on fee he could command as a free agent, and will no doubt want to turn things around at his current club before he leaves with fans' best wishes. Palace sit a disappointing 13th in the Premier League, but remain just five points behind fifth-place Brentford.

The Eagles will learn their UEFA Conference League play-off fate tomorrow, and will be expected to progress beyond either of their two potential opponents in Bosnian outfit Zrinjski Mostar or Czech side Sigma Olomouc.

TEAMtalk reported that City will offer Guéhi a contract worth £200,000 a week if a fee can be agreed with Palace. Richard Hughes will be hoping the player rejects a move six months early - if Guéhi indicates a willingness to move this month, it would be negligent not to attempt to pip the Citizens to the signature of a player who already agreed on a move to L4 back in August.

Robbo leaves Liverpool future open - "We've had talks"

Andy Robertson has confirmed that discussions have been held with club representatives over a contract extension, but the left-back has kept his options open, saying: "I need to see what myself and my family wants moving forward."

Robertson was linked heavily with Atlético de Madrid last summer before the Spanish side signed left-sided defenders Matteo Ruggeri and Dávid Hancko. He has played second fiddle to new signing Milos Kerkez for much of the season so far.

Robbo said: "I can focus on the last eight-and-a-half years, I think Jurgen Klopp left me out of one game and I was raging! So I’m a player who wants to play. I've played through injuries. I've played when I’m not 100% fit. I've played when I’ve only been 50, 40, 30% fit for this club and my country.

"I always want to be on the grass and playing and obviously now that’s not happening, so that's what is different. But I do have a different role here this season which I'm getting enjoyment out of but at the end of the day, footballers want to play, and if anyone is sat happy on the bench, then they don’t belong at any football club.

"That's always my argument, you should always want to push to be in the team. If you're happy to be at Liverpool, or Barnsley, wanting to sit on the bench, then I don’t think you have the right attitude."

Paul Gorst has the full story.

"Interesting summer for Tonali" - Premier League sides interested

Fabrizio Romano (via Rousing the Kop) has dropped an update on his YouTube channel that will come as bad news to Newcastle United fans - but potentially excellent news for Liverpool.

According to Romano, Sandro Tonali could be on the move this summer. Juventus are claimed to have made him their "dream signing for 2026", but Premier League sides are unlikely to pass up on the opportunity to sign the deep-lying playmaker.

For Liverpool's part, Tonali would certainly be an interesting alternative to Martín Zubimendi, who performed a 180 on his Anfield move in 2024 before ultimately making the switch to Arsenal last year. According to then-president, Massimo Cellino, the Reds tried to sign Tonali from Serie B side Brescia in 2019, when the player was just 18.

Ryan Gravenberch has since excelled in the number 6 role, but Tonali would add a new dynamic to a team that has missed Trent Alexander-Arnold's pinpoint passing from deep.

Romano said: "On Tonali, let me say that people close to the player also expect Premier League top clubs to arrive and jump on the case for the possibility to sign him. It’s going to be an interesting summer for Tonali, but it depends on Newcastle. They will control the story and the price – which will be important."

One to watch for the summer, perhaps.

Klopp "seriously considering" Real Madrid job - or is he?

This is the bad news. Reds worldwide will be hoping Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg has got the wrong end of the stick with his recent updates on a potential return to management for legendary former Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp.

As reported in this column yesterday (Jan 14), Klopp has admirers in the corridors of power at Valdebebas, and would consider a return to management if Madrid make a move for his services in the summer. With the shocking defeat to Albacete last night setting an ominous tone for Arbeloa's tenure, that possible future could well become a reality, and Plettenberg has provided another update.

Plettenberg said: "Jürgen Klopp is seriously considering a return as head coach should Real Madrid make a concrete move for the summer, as exclusively revealed. Real Madrid have always fascinated him.

"He is happy at Red Bull and has a strong identification with the Red Bull project, but there are at least two projects for which he would return if EVERYTHING fits: Real Madrid and the German national team. Klopp and Real Madrid - one to watch for summer 2026."

Klopp has long been linked with the German national team job, which was widely considered the one role for which he would return to management after his pseudo-retirement two years ago. But Real Madrid would feel like a kick in the teeth for Liverpool fans.

But here's the good news: speaking on Servus TV (via This Is Anfield), Klopp has denied any contact with Florentino Pérez, asserting that he is "in the right place" not having to worry about the managerial merry-go-round.

Klopp said: "[My phone] actually has [been ringing] – though not from Madrid. But yes, there were definitely a few people who felt they had to contact me directly about it. I think the rumours have been circulating for some time now.

"And I know exactly what your question is getting at, but it has nothing to do with me. I was surprised, that’s true, genuinely surprised. Then a few people messaged me, and I replied with various emojis."

Klopp added: "I really feel sorry for [Alonso], because I consider him a great coach. It has nothing to do with me and didn’t trigger anything in me either."

Tsimikas loan in jeopardy

Kostas Tsimikas has failed to impress on loan at Serie A side Roma, and a report from Italy has claimed the club are targeting a new left-footed wing-back to replace him, having lost his place to the right-footed Wesley.

The Greek Scouser made the switch to Italy when it became clear that Andy Robertson would stay and fight for his place with new signing Milos Kerkez. Starting behind Angeliño in the pecking order, Tsimikas was unable to lock down his place in the Roma XI during the Spaniard's absence with health concerns.

Rete Sport have now claimed that Roma chiefs have moved to initiate contact with Liverpool over an early termination of Tsimikas' loan deal, with a pair of unnamed clubs reportedly interested in securing his services for the remainder of the season.

Other reports today

The ECHO's LFC correspondent Paul Gorst has revealed details of Liverpool's signing of Austrian U17 international Ifeanyi Ndukwe. The 6'5" centre-half impressed scouts at the U17 World Cup in Qatar in November, and will join a raft of new additions at centre-half in the academy - a strategy designed to maximise Liverpool's homegrown quota in the light of post-Brexit regulations. The centre-half will join Liverpool in the summer from Austria Wien for £2.5 million with a view to developing into a first-team player, and Gorst revealed that the Reds beat off competition from Inter to secure the youngster's services.

Talk around Liverpool's interest in Kees Smit, previously covered in this column, has accelerated in the last 24 hours - seemingly after an innocuous report in the Daily Star. The piece, penned by senior sports reporter Aaron Morris and Star sports editor/The Anfield Wrap contributor Neil Docking, is a standard rumour mill piece and only confirms that the Reds have been "keeping tabs" on the 19-year-old midfielder. Smit is reportedly the subject of interest from Real Madrid and his club - AZ Alkmaar - have involved Jorge Mendes to oversee a potentially record-breaking £52 million plus transfer.

One-time Liverpool record signing Naby Keïta has completed a permanent transfer to Hungarian giants Ferencváros following the expiry of his loan deal. The skilful midfielder, whose time at Anfield was blighted by injuries, joined Werder Bremen in 2023 on the expiry of his contract at Liverpool. However, he failed to make an impression and a public fallout with manager Ole Werner led to him being dropped from the team, before securing an initial loan to the Hungarian champions.

The Athletic's Dan Kilpatrick has tipped Ben White for a move to Liverpool, in a conversation with Sky Sports. Also mentioning Newcastle and Aston Villa as clubs who could benefit from White's versatility, Kilpatrick suggested Liverpool could take advantage of White's limited game time at Arsenal this season to solve a problem at both centre-half and right-back. With homegrown players at a premium and Arsenal unlikely to easily sanction a deal to a rival, however, White would almost certainly not come cheap.

Finally, Fichajes have reported that Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has been transfer listed by the Spanish giants. Manager Hansi Flick is said to feel that Araujo "has not reached the level expected" at Barca and will be sold in the next window. With the Blaugrana still deep in financial woes, offloading players is a necessity and there is every chance Araujo, who has only started seven games in LaLiga this season, could be among them. CaughtOffside previously reported Liverpool and Chelsea's interest in the 26-year-old centre-half.

Nonsense of the day

A rare reprieve for Fichajes, who it must be said have thoroughly let the side down today. Instead, it's former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore who takes the wooden spoon with a rather surprising transfer tip. We're sorry, Stan, but this is a rogue one.

Speaking to BetWright football betting (via the ECHO), Collymore suggested Liverpool consider a swap deal with Aston Villa for defender Ezri Konsa, with Ibrahima Konaté heading in the opposite direction.

Collymore said: "Liverpool must identify a replacement for Ibrahima Konaté if he leaves, especially because I don't think Virgil van Dijk will be far behind him. I know there's been talk of Marc Guéhi, but I'm looking at someone like Ezri Konsa, who's probably going to start for England at the World Cup alongside John Stones.

"If I was head of recruitment at Liverpool, I think Konsa and Guéhi would both be deals that provide good value for money. Aston Villa have PSR issues that they need to address, so if they were to get a big fee for Konsa, they might have to consider it.

"For me, Konaté thinks he's the best defender since sliced bread but hasn't played like it recently. I'm sure he's thinking he'll be going to the likes of PSG or Real Madrid, but could there be a swap deal where Konsa goes to Liverpool and Konaté goes to Aston Villa? That would be something that would work for both parties."

Before we even get into why Liverpool wouldn't pursue a deal for the England international, there is the small matter of Konaté's own priorities. It is highly unlikely the Frenchman, who will command a large signing-on fee if he runs down his contract at Liverpool, would waive that financial incentive to join Villa this month.

With all due respect to Villa, who are having a better season than Liverpool, Konaté would likely also expect to be joining one of Europe's top clubs, having been linked to Real Madrid earlier in the season.

Konsa, at 28, would also be a downgrade on Konaté for Liverpool. Konsa is a homegrown, capable defender who is comfortable on the ball - he can also play at right-back - but wins a much lower percentage of his duels both in the air and on the ground. Konaté also has the advantage of being two years Konsa's junior, with more time to develop into the world-class centre-half he has shown himself capable of being on his best days.

While intriguing, and certainly a creative solution to some short-term problems Liverpool are facing, it's hard to see this move even remotely being on the cards.

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