Liverpool transfer news and rumours
Liverpool had a busy transfer window rejuvenating their ageing midfield, but perhaps their best bit of business was keeping hold of Mohamed Salah, who became a £150m target for Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad.
The Reds lost out to Chelsea on transfers targets Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, but still brought in four new midfielders to replace the five that left the club in the summer, the most high-profile being captain Jordan Henderson.
In what was a busy window of Liverpool transfers and rumours, we look back at all the deals during the summer of 2023.
Who have Liverpool signed?
Dominik Szoboszlai (RB Leipzig – £60m)
Liverpool completed their second signing of the summer with the £60m capture of Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig on a five-year contract.
Szoboszlai joined Leipzig from RB Salzburg in 2021, scoring 20 goals and providing 21 assists in his 90 appearances.
The move was wrapped up in a couple of days after the Reds triggered his release clause hours before its expiration and Szoboszlai is honoured to have been handed the number eight as worn by former captain Steven Gerrard.
He said: “When I was a child, to be honest I didn’t watch that much football but of course when it was Champions League or a big game, I was watching Liverpool, the big teams and also the big players – and he was one of the biggest. I’m happy and I can’t wait to get started.”
Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton – £35-40m)
World Cup winner Mac Allister signed for the Reds on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee.
The arrival of the 24-year-old Argentinian signalled the start of manager Klopp’s much-vaunted midfield rebuild
Mac Allister contributed 10 goals in his fourth and final season with the Seagulls, whose sixth-placed finish ensured they would be playing in Europe for the first time in the club’s history.
Wataru Endo (Stuttgart – £16.2m)
Liverpool’s pursuit of Caicedo and Lavia ended in failure after both players opted to join Chelsea instead, but Jurgen Klopp finally brought in another new midfielder with the capture of Endo on a four-year contract.
The hard-working Japan international joined Stuttgart on a season-long loan in 2019 from Belgian club Sint-Truiden and made a permanent move a year later.
The Reds manager said: “He is a late bloomer in his career and he was definitely underestimated for a long time. It is clear he has improved every year since he was on the proper football screen. There’s no chance that anybody could (think he is 30), when you see him, you think ‘is he allowed to drive a car?’. On the pitch, he turns into a real monster.”
Ryan Gravenberch (Bayern Munich – £35m)
Klopp completed his midfield revolution by snapping up Gravenberch from Bayern Munich on a four-year contract.
The 21-year-old Netherlands international spent just one season with the Bundesliga giants following his move from Ajax, but started just three games in his 24 appearances.
Revealing that he spoke to fellow Dutch players Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo ahead of his switch to Merseyside, Gravenberch said: “Before the move I spoke a lot with the guys and they said we have a good team and everything is top here. Actually my decision was quick. I left his office (Jurgen Klopp) with a great feeling and I can’t wait to start working with him on the pitch.”
Klopp added: “I really think we did good business, the players we brought in are really good, will help the team. We are less experienced but that is normal, but we are full of desire and I love this team.”
Liverpool signings:
Dominik Szoboszlai (RB Leipzig – £60m)
Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton – £35-40m)
Wataru Endo (Stuttgart – £16.2m)
Ryan Gravenberch (Bayern Munich – £35m)
Who left Liverpool?
Jordan Henderson (Al-Effitaq – £12m)
Captain Jordan Henderson completed a controversial move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq.
The 33-year-old midfielder brought to an end a 12-year stay at Anfield in which he won every major trophy by finalising a deal with reported wages of up to £700,000-a-week.
The England international will be reunited with former team-mate Steven Gerrard who is Al-Ettifaq manager.
However, his move had attracted criticism due to his long-time support of LGBT+ issues and the Premier League’s Rainbow Laces campaign.
Homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, while the state stands accused of a host of other abuses including placing harsh restrictions on women’s rights and the right to political protest.
However, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp paid tribute to his departing captain.
“I know it was a really, really tough decision for Hendo and I was around or with him all the way,” he told the club’s website. “It’s sad, absolutely strange, because he is the only captain I had here at Liverpool, but I think it is exciting for him as well. We will miss him, without a shadow of a doubt, that’s clear – as a man and as a player. But, as I said, that’s football.”
Fabino (Al-Ittihad – £40m)
Fabinho is the latest big name to join Al-Ittihad, following the likes of former Real Madrid star Karim Benzema and ex-Chelsea and Leicester man N’Golo Kante.
The 29-year-old joined Liverpool from Monaco in 2018 and enjoyed a glittering career on Merseyside, winning the Champions League and Premier League titles, plus the FA Cup and the Club World Cup.
Naby Keita (Werder Bremen)
Keita is returning to Germany after agreeing to sign for the Bundesliga club when his contract expires at the end of the month.
The Guinea midfielder joined the Reds from RB Leipzig five years ago and scored seven goals in 84 Premier League appearances, but struggled to get a regular run in the first team.
James Milner (Brighton)
The club announced in May that Milner was one of four players to be leaving in the summer, but he still has plenty to give at the age of 37 and has joined Brighton on a one-year deal with an option for another 12 months.
Milner has three Premier League winner medals from his spells with Manchester City and Liverpool, with whom he also won the Champions League and despite his age was one of the fittest players in the squad.
Roberto Firmino (Al-Ahli)
Firmino ended eight seasons at Liverpool by scoring in three of his last four games and became the latest player to move to Saudi Arabia at the end of his contract.
The 31-year-old Brazilian will link up with former Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, who joined the Saudi Professional League side last month.
Firmino netted 82 goals in 256 appearances for the Reds and formed a deadly partnership with Mo Salah and Sadio Mane during his spell at Liverpool where he won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Club World Cup.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Oxlade-Chamberlain spent six trophy-laden but injury-ravaged seasons at Liverpool, playing his final game as a substitute in the 4-1 defeat at Manchester City.
At 29, the midfielder still has a few years ahead of him and reportedly has offers from three Premier League clubs.
Fabio Carvalho (RB Leipzig – loan)
The 20-year-old winger will spend the whole of the 2023-24 campaign on loan at RB Leipzig, who finished third in the Bundesliga last season.
The deal does not include an option to buy, with Klopp wanting Carvalho to gain more experience after starting just four Premier League games last season following his summer move from Fulham.
The Portuguese scored in back-to-back games against Bournemouth and Newcastle in August although he failed to find the net in any of his subsequent appearances apart from the first equaliser in a 3-2 Carabao Cup defeat at Manchester City.
Liverpool departures:
Jordan Henderson (Al-Effitaq – £12m)
Fabinho (Al-Ittihad, £40m)
Naby Keita (Werder Bremen – free)
Roberto Firmino (Al-Ahli – free)
James Milner (Brighton – free)
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (free agent)
Fabio Carvalho (RB Leipzig – loan)
Nathaniel Phillips (Celtic – loan)
Calvin Ramsay (Preston – loan)
Sepp van den Berg (Mainz – loan)
Rhys Williams (Aberdeen – loan)
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
