Liverpool banter 8

06 Aug 2026 10:14:58.
Apparently Rodri is close to agreeing a deal with Barcelona…. Maybe Madrid will now come in for Macca?

06 Aug 2026 10:31:38
Enzo Fernandez will be their next choice, I think. I think Macca will end up at Atletico Madrid, but I also wouldn't rule out him staying, and we don't sign a midfielder.

06 Aug 2026 11:41:09
If they wanted Rodri because they want a defensive minded midfielder, I can't imagine that either Macca or Enzo would be great alternatives.

06 Aug 2026 11:41:38
Didn't he (Rodri) want to go to Real Madrid?

06 Aug 2026 12:44:47
I wouldn't be against Macca staying, especially if he wants to.

If that eventuated, I would hope that Iraola's plan is to play Macca higher up the pitch.

06 Aug 2026 12:52:53
Can we entice them with a 20% off or something? He's gotta go, man.

06 Aug 2026 13:02:11
Keep hearing that Macca's hair today, gone tomorrow. I think it's important that we keep him, as he can plug the gap and weave his magic.

06 Aug 2026 12:44:23
Imagine going for Rodri and ending up with that rat faced knobhead Enzo.

06 Aug 2026 13:18:05
Is diving Magic?

06 Aug 2026 14:08:10
VV, that's some nasty work.

06 Aug 2026 09:38:12
Hello guys,

Anyone got anymore info abt a marquee signing in midfield that was brought up a few days ago?

06 Aug 2026 10:14:27
Apparently it's a midfielder.

Ta.

06 Aug 2026 10:16:52
It would be just guesswork, mate. Nobody apart from Victorgoddamn would know! Hehe.

06 Aug 2026 10:42:33
I'm thinking Valverde but that's a complete guess.

06 Aug 2026 10:43:38
I would guess it's not really going to progress anywhere, seeing as it's 3 weeks until the window closes.
A transfer of such scale should take many weeks and many man hours to negotiate. There would probably be some info coming out. We don't really have the time to dedicate to one player, we need several players.

That's my uninformed take.

06 Aug 2026 11:17:54
Maybe he could just tell us? Crazy, I know.

06 Aug 2026 11:29:29
Could be related to Rodri moving. If he moves to Barca, maybe it's Gavi/Casado.

06 Aug 2026 11:50:18
Florian, if he did tell us and it didn't come off, can you imagine the pelters he'd get from some on here. "But you said...."
Also may compromise the person he gets the info from.
If it happens and a top player is signed, great.
If it doesn't, that's football.

06 Aug 2026 12:29:50
To be fair to VG, he did say that he wasn't going to divulge that info because it could compromise his source.

He also said it was in the works and the club are confident of a deal. At no point did he say it was a definite.

It's all a bit of fun really and shouldn't be taken too seriously.

06 Aug 2026 16:08:44
Seems like nonsense to me.

06 Aug 2026 08:08:53
I hope our players are also "fuming" after the Leeds loss, just like the Gooners players after their defeat yesterday.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

06 Aug 2026 08:49:35
It's always been the Liverpool winning way:

"To get ye own house in order first"

Jealousy gets you nowhere?

06 Aug 2026 08:58:09
I've really enjoyed oppo fans trying to banter us about that Leeds result. If you look at the team that finished the game, it's not going to be remotely reflective of the team that plays for us next season.
GK Mamardahvili - will play >20 games next season.
RB Ramsay - probably will leave.
CB Ndukwe - will leave on loan.
CB Ndiaye - will play >10 games next season.
LB Tsimikas - probably will leave.
CM Jones - probably will leave.


CM Gravenberch - his first minutes back from holiday.
AM Elliott - probably will leave.
RW Scanlon - an actual LB, who will probably leave.
ST Chiesa - probably will leave.
LW Koumas - probably will leave.

Mama, Ndiaye and Gravenberch are probably the only 3 on the pitch who will play for us next season and one will be 2nd GK and another will be 5th or 6th CB. Gravenberch is the only one I was concerned about.

06 Aug 2026 09:16:26
Who cares about training matches?

06 Aug 2026 09:37:31
Whilst I agree with the principle, Adam. But realistically, we won't be losing 7 of that team, in my opinion.

I think individuals who then get drafted into the first team over the season because of injuries etc won't be quite as exposed with lots of first teamers around them.

06 Aug 2026 09:50:22
Anyone who allows themselves to be wound up by opposition fans after losing a training match where we literally had one potential first team player on the pitch needs to give their head a wobble.

It didn't even point to a lack of squad depth. Some of those on the pitch were 5th choice or worse.

Take it for what it is and move on.

06 Aug 2026 10:22:40
I think we will, Zedd. The way I'm looking at it is we will sign another 3 or 4 players and most of them are academy kids who were filling in for senior pros. Tsimikas is the only one I was debating to myself, but I think Chambers has done enough to be the new back up for LB/CB. Even, if you take out those 8 players I said won't be here, this would still be the 28-strong squad with 4 new signings.

GK: Alisson, Mama, Jaros, Woodman.
RB: New, Frimpong, Bradley.
CB: Jacquet, Leoni.
CB: Virgil, Gomez, Ndiaye.


LB: Kerkez, Chambers.
DM: New, Nyoni, Endo.
CM: Szoboszlai, Gravenberch.
AM: Wirtz, Morrison.
RW: New, Munoz.
ST: Isak, Ekitike, Wright.
LW: New, Rio.

(Hopefully Kounde, Camara, Mbaye and Barcola).

If any of Ramsay, Ndukwe, Tsimikas, Jones, Elliott, Scanlon, Chiesa or Koumas are still here when the window closes, I'll be staggered. Ndukwe aside, they've just not done enough in pre-season, in my opinion, to justify keeping them; and Ndukwe can't get a work permit.

06 Aug 2026 10:25:35
Btw, even that is assuming Gakpo and Mac Allister leave on top of those 8 I listed.

06 Aug 2026 10:27:21
More worrying thing is we seem to be doing pre-season matches for non first-team players.

We all saw last season what the importance is of a pre-season, and with the WC and players yet to sign, the best case scenario is some first-team players might get minutes in our last 2 pre-season games, and worst case 1 or none prior to the season starting.



Realistically I'd imagine all top leagues would like to see a later season start after World Cups etc.

{Ed025's Note - i agree JK..

06 Aug 2026 10:59:38
I agree with that in principle, JK, but I would say that players coming back from a World Cup have still maintained their fitness until late July.

Last season we had players clocking off in late April after we'd won the league and then coming back to the devastation of a lost team member and friend.

Like Robbo said, they just didn't feel like playing football, so any preseason we might have had would not have been conducted at full intensity.

It's just a totally different scenario than this season and so shouldn't be compared as if it's the same thing.

06 Aug 2026 11:05:01
If Infantino manages to keep hold of his job and he gets his way for a 64 team World Cup, it'll rake months to stage the tournament. The following season won't start until Christmas !!

06 Aug 2026 11:19:29
Couldn't give the slightest toss about pre-season results. Good or bad.

06 Aug 2026 11:43:11
1jj, people who have some sense.

06 Aug 2026 13:46:18
We were cack in the 2019/20 pre season. That didn't turn out so bad.

The real game to be looking at is Newcastle.

06 Aug 2026 14:09:58
Exactly, Lofty1979. Anyone losing their ship over a preseason game is doing his/her own head in.

The rest of us don't have to participate in their own madness.

06 Aug 2026 15:32:55
Bp, I suppose it depends on when they were knocked out of World Cup, I suppose, mate.

Dutch lads we've seen Grav get minutes but not Virg or Gakpo.

You agreed in principle and then argued against it lol. Always good to debate with you.

06 Aug 2026 07:06:13.
Morning Reds.
Really big fan of the site, looking forward to the new season under the new manager. Hopefully we will get some of the transfers over the line soon.
All the best.

06 Aug 2026 11:32:28.
Rather Koumas stays, MK. Need the HG status, and he's versatile; all attacking positions including AM.

Two-footed (dominant left), quick, direct, hardworking and tough, above average finishing, pressing machine, Wales regular.

Covers Isak and would trust him earlier in the game before putting Chiesa in for the final 10mins.

With the possibility of Elliott and Jones leaving, HG status is replaced by Chambers and Koumas.

06 Aug 2026 06:46:14
Signings are a bit slow this window. Are the Newcastle scouts on strike?

06 Aug 2026 08:00:03
Don't worry, they will be looking for dm soon.
And we can swoop in and take it.

06 Aug 2026 08:49:40
And at the same time we can take their current RB off their hands...

Wouldn't mind Livramento at LFC.

06 Aug 2026 09:26:58
JLC, Livramento is pretty injury prone, I'm afraid.

06 Aug 2026 09:35:14
Livramento would become good friends with Gomez and Bradley.

06 Aug 2026 09:57:33
I've heard the Newcastle scouts have some big plans for this weekend.
Washing cars and packing bags in a supermarket, I believe.

06 Aug 2026 11:44:30
JLC, Livramento is more injury prone than Gomez. Let that marinade, a lil' bit.

06 Aug 2026 01:37:29
Eds Just out of curiosity, has Trent been considered to come back? 1st thing Jose done at Madrid was bring in Dumfries, surely Trent knows he's going to be a bench warmer. Would fellow fans welcome him back?

{Ed001's Note - not that I am aware of, no.}

06 Aug 2026 07:30:57
There was a poll done on him returning a few days ago BDG but I can't remember the final result.

06 Aug 2026 07:57:01
Jose wants to use him as a RM not a RB. He might change his mind in 6 months, but that's the plan right now.

06 Aug 2026 09:28:22
Poll result.
Would you take Trent back?
Yes 60%
No 40%.

06 Aug 2026 00:14:38
Please Mr John Henry go and get Jules Kounde for the club and Zabaryni whilst we are effing around with PSG and funding their summer spend.

06 Aug 2026 09:15:50.
My sauce tells me that John Dubya is ringing round trying to buy Diamonde and Jules.
Belly Barcola has already been gift wrapped.
Watch this space.

Tartare for now.

06 Aug 2026 11:22:44
Doesn't any club that buys a player off another club fund their summer spend?

05 Aug 2026 23:28:53
As another poster said Barcola and Mbaye would be lovely but personally I would go for something like:

Konsa or Quansah

Spence

Munoz

Mbaye.

If Gakpo is sold then get Barcola.

Sell Curtis and promote Nyoni.

Just an educated guess reading info on here and from Journalists.

Is it weird that I am more excited by Mbaye? Which probably means it will not happen LOL!

05 Aug 2026 23:39:17
Surely we're gonna attempt to replace Mo Salah?

05 Aug 2026 23:54:24
So we lost Diaz and Salah in the last 12 months and we think Munoz and Mbaye are adequate replacements? Did I miss something?

06 Aug 2026 00:30:33
The thing is, we are not trying to replace like for like. Salah and Diaz are wide forwards who excel in a front 3 with a false 9 dropping deep to give them space to cut in. We need wingers who stay wide and feed the centre forwards.



All this talk of replacing Salah is just nonsense. We don't need to replace him, we need a completely different profile of player.

06 Aug 2026 00:43:47
Chewy, I agree that some petulant teenager (Mbaye), who undoubtedly has skill but is unproven, is not the type of replacement we would have expected for Salah, but Rayan and Diamonde are much the same profile, so it looks like we are taking a punt on an upcoming type.
To be honest, we were never going to replace Salah, though there is nobody out there quite like him.


Barcola for me is a class act, replaces Gakpo with ease, and will definitely add pace and power.
We had to make changes, and hopefully, after this summer window, we can change the recruitment team for the better.
If we were to add Kounde, Zabarnyi and something for the midfield, I think that's a decent window.
Anything less and we are light.

06 Aug 2026 01:24:58
Rayan is less of a punt because he has played in the Premier League and has looked the part. Some great players have completely flopped when they come into the Premier League.

06 Aug 2026 01:36:11
@Chewy and LFC8, I think the plan was that going huge on Isak and Writz last summer would eventually "replace" Mo's Goals and Assists?! This Summer we need a player who can actually play Right Wing.

Dom, Munoz, Rio, Frimpong, Elliott and potentially Mbaye can all play there, to differing success, granted!

I would rather have a centre back, a right back and Mbaye for a little more than Barcola would cost on his own! In my opinion this squad is not good nor balanced enough to play the likes of Chambers at centre back for 10 games on the bounce, for example!

Whereas Isak, Writz and Dom have enough goals in them if we are a more balanced 11!

I like Barcola but at the price he is going to cost he's a luxury, unfortunately! If we were just tweaking the squad with 1 or 2 elite additions, then great, I welcome signing Barcola!

LFC's squad probably isn't short numerically if everyone was fit to start the season, but we are where we are, unfortunately, folks!

06 Aug 2026 06:06:33
We need to forewarn players and at least one more defender. Why not both! The club clearly has funds.

06 Aug 2026 06:14:58
Diogo, Dom's an 8, and 8's where he'll play, that's not going to change. Moving him to the wing would drastically weaken the team and would require bringing in a £100m+ midfielder to take his place. Munoz is only 21 with just 1 season of top-flight football under his belt, for a team that barely avoided relegation, mind you, Rio's only a kid, with just 5 games' worth of professional minutes to his name, Frimpong is absolutely woeful, and if he's on the wing who's gonna be playing RB? Elliot's simply not on the level. As much as I'd like to see him kick on, I've never seen enough from him to convince me he will. He couldn't even get in the team over at Villa.

You can't genuinely tell me that any of those are solid options for a team that's meant to b competing for major trophies.

I agree, a CB and RB are critical, but my concern is that a lack of quality on the wings may well make us a very one-dimensional team, leaving us to once again struggle with a lot of the same issues we had this past year, and don't forget, the lack of quality on the wings was a serious contributing factor for us last season.

I'm not saying buy a winger instead of a CB or anything like that. I do believe the club are working on defensive options and I think we'll see a CB who can play RB or vice versa brought in at the very least.

06 Aug 2026 06:51:34
It's so hard to know what's truly happening behind the scenes so I'm trying to reserve judgement until the end of window.

The rumours are concerning. Replacing Gakpo, who I expect to have a rebound season under Iraola, with an 18 year old kid is a classic Todd Boehly move.

Jacquet was a risk signing. He didn't even have a full season in France's top flight and we paid 60 million.

The squad is constantly shrinking in top senior pros. Yes, we need to move on some 30+ players, but our 28-29 year olds are thin on the ground or bench players. We are becoming a team of boys.

Thank God we have Iraola in my view. He is a massive plus.

Hughes does need to get going now. There is a lot of work that needs doing on this squad and he has decided to shorten his window to a month.



I'm not sure how invested he is either in getting things done knowing he is leaving.

Kounde, Zarbanyi, Nmencha strike me as men in terms of stature and experience. And Gakpo is too. Don't get why we are selling him after one bad season in a terrible system. We need him.

I hope it all falls through personally. In terms of Gakpo, we keep him.

Still, I do trust Iraola to get the best out of what he has. He can't work miracles though. Hughes and his team have a lot to do.

If they don't get it done, Woodfine is not the right man to take over and we need a new DOF.

Time is ticking.

06 Aug 2026 07:16:54
Not seen Rayan play in the PL from memory, but he would also be a punt at 100 mill and 4 months of PL football.

Realistically, whether it was Diomande, Barcola or Rayan at the proves quoted, they would all be punts, but the truth is we are in desperate need of a quality right winger.



Some might not believe it a desperate, and are content with Chiesa, Munoz or one of the other wingers on the opposite side.

06 Aug 2026 08:02:03
Has someone left the tea room?
Only place I can see Quansah doing well.

06 Aug 2026 09:26:24
We were never going to be able to replace Salah. He was (to use an often commonly overused term) a generational talent. You can't just go out and buy what he gave you because he was one of a few players in world football who could deliver numbers like that from the wing.

I believe that buying Wirtz and Isak was the first step in replacing Salah.

We will play differently post-Salah and goals and creativity will be more spread out throughout the team, and our new right-winger will be one that fits in to our new approach rather than a like-for-like replacement. If they can deliver Salah's numbers, then we will be laughing, but, I for one, do not think that they will be expected to come close to Salah's numbers.

06 Aug 2026 11:30:58
Rayan has the equivalent in minutes of 12 full games in the Prem though. That is it. For a team that most likely had one game a week for the few months he was there. And, let's face it, apart from when he was playing against us, how many Bournemouth games would many of us have gone out of our way to watch? For me, Mbaye at £40m would be a better option than paying £100m for Rayan.

What happened to wanting to find the Next Rayan?

05 Aug 2026 23:27:22.
Breaking PSG turned down another offer for Barcola!
Plz just walk the f*** away!
Stop wasting time.

05 Aug 2026 23:36:47
Speak for yourself, Jay. Apart from the sources on here who say it is done, I have the same information from another source who I 100% trust. I think it will be announced by the weekend.

06 Aug 2026 00:32:00
It's all part of the game, Jay. As Gary Barlow once said, have a little patience.

06 Aug 2026 00:46:04
Kemlyn, I hope you are right.
Barcola is a belter player. I think he will be better than Diaz and is a huge improvement on Gakpo.

06 Aug 2026 07:49:15
I trust Robbo and VG. Barcola is a done deal and will be a terrific signing.
I expect us to sign another forward and at least one more defender as a minimum.

06 Aug 2026 09:38:35
Jay, this is just clickbait sites either regurgitating stories or picking it up for the first time.

Social media has a lot to answer for!