Liverpool are just a month away from defending their Premier League crown.
The Reds secure a long-awaited league title this summer, and now have just a few weeks before the 2020/21 campaign begins in September.
Despite the new season only a few weeks from the new start, much of the talk has been around Anfield about potential new arrivals.
Full-back Kostas Tsimikas is expected to come out of Olympiacos this week, but what about other new recruits?
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Reds correspondent ECHO Paul Gorst has answered questions about Liverpool’s potential transfer deals, as well as addressing some of the rumors that have been circulating in recent days.
Below is a complete transcript of the web chat:
Gini Wijnaldum will sign a new contract? If not, is Liverpool considering selling him in this transfer window?
PG: This is a truly precarious one, isn ‘t it?
I was told that Liverpool made the decision in lockdown to transfer all contract negotiations and discussions, which meant that there would not be much progress on Winaam’s situation.
Now it’s on again, and it’s currently one of the biggest problems on the club’s field.
He played 37 times in the Premier League last week, so he’s clearly a big name for Jurgen Klopp, so it’s impossible to say the club does not want to renew his deal.
The ball may be in his court, but since he’s been there for the last 12 months, the club has made a big decision to make.
Personally, I do not think they will download him. They will do their utmost to make sure he draws.
Who is the most realistic replacement for Dejan Lovren?
(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA / Getty Images)
PG: Dear one, I’m sure Ben White was scouted in much of last season’s championship campaign at Leeds.
And I believe that earlier this year there was interest in – or at least was – in Sevilla Diego Carlos. Its asking price as a release clause may now be a bit on the high side.
Liverpool, however, need a skilled center-back to cover Lovren’s loss. He played more than 200 Premier League games for Liverpool and Southampton.
A boy coming to replace him is a big question.
Is there truth in Ismaila Sarr as a possible transfer? If so, would that not hinder Harvey Elliott’s progress?
PG: There is, but it is not as black and white as saying he will come to Liverpool.
I was told last week that he is one of a number of options that have been looked at and tracked down.
His profile fits the bill as far as backup to the top three with a high ceiling of potential goes.
Much like the pursuit of Jamal Lewis, Liverpool are likely to feel they can pick up quality from a relegated side.
The problem, however, may be the price.
Watford paid £ 25 million for him last summer and he has improved his reputation in the Premier League alone. I would not be too confident to say that he will be a Reds player before the end of the transfer window, but I have confirmed that he is important.
As for Elliott’s progress, he’s only turned 17 in recent months, so there’s no pressure at all on him to place a claim for a more regular place in the first-team squad.
The club have massive hopes for him and see him as a long-term Liverpool player for the next 10 years minimum, so the arrival of someone older to fight for a place in those front three is not considered a massive obstacle for Elliott right now.
I have always been under the impression that we will see some developments with the transfer of Thiago once his season has ended with Bayern Munich in Lisbon. Do you believe that there will be contact between us and Bayern once their campaign is over?
PG: That’s a sensible school of thought, but I’ve been told on two separate occasions that Thiago Alcantara is not in treatment in the Liverpool recruiting room.
It seems he is envious of leaving Bayern Munich this summer and why would he not want to come to Liverpool now?
But, no, I do not think he will sign for the Reds. All the noise about this particular deal seems to come from the Bayern end.
At the age of 29 I’m not sure he has the profile the club is looking at.
Although of course he is a quality player.
Klopp traditionally holds new recruits early, do you expect movement on further applications before the Evian training camp?
PG: Traditionally, Klopp would rather have his signatures in the door early.
Every manager would tell you the same thing, but with the window open until the first week of October and the club still assessing a large part of their finances, I think it might be possible that we see movement a little later than normal.
Klopp said a few weeks back that the club would play something of a waiting game, so it looks like that will be the plan.
The club is yet to confirm another trip to Evian-les-Bains, but Klopp is happy to let it happen.
Last year the Reds played Lyon in Geneva, close to where their training camp was based and I know the manager is a big fan of the intense work he is able to undertake there.
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Is there any interest in Ozan Kabak?
PG: No. My colleague Connor Dunn recently wrote that he is not a player to be considered.
Has Liverpool kicked off a pre-season training match?
PG: Currently, the club has no concrete plans for pre-season.
They are off to Melwood today after two weeks, so plans could take more shape in the coming days regarding friendly practice matches.
I do not think we will see too much.
The club also has the Community Shield to bet on at the end of this month.
We saw a few months back that the club could quite arrange a friendship with Blackburn, so I would suggest that it could be a similar kind of program with some Anfield practice matches behind closed doors against teams within 50 miles or so.
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Premier League champions Liverpool close their first signing of the summer after agreeing a deal for Kostas Tsimikas.
The Olympiacos defender emerged as the Reds’ top scorer to compete with Andy Robertson at left-back.
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Has the club got a new sponsor for shirt holdings? Anything in the pipeline regarding training-based sponsorship?
PG: The club is in talks, I believe, regarding a sponsorship for sleeves.
Their deal with Western Union came to an end recently and it is another avenue they can explore as an income stream.
However, I doubt the club will place a naming right on the new training ground, however.
The club has been exploring the possibility of appointing the stand if Anfield Road is expanded, but it is early days for that.
It shows that the club is at least open to that area of sponsorship, at least. But nothing in the pipeline as far as I know with the new Kirkby facility.
How long has the club followed Kostas Tsimikas? Is he better than Jamal Lewis?
PG: The club has been aware of Tsimikas for about three years.
Scouts were sent to William II to keep tabs on the development of Pedro Chirivella when they saw Tsimikas and his abilities.
That Liverpool has kept tabs since.
But, as extensive and broadly accessible as their scouting network will be, they will be aware of so many players across Europe.
I have no idea if he’s ‘better’ than Jamal Lewis.
I can not bear to have seen him (Tsimikas) look very different from the early Europa League match against Arsenal and Wolves.
Lewis was highly regarded and the fact that he was the first to speak volumes for beets, but Tsimikas has a lot of pedigree, too.
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