Liverpool Rumours Mobile

20 Jun 2026 19:53:04
Anfieldwatch suggests Spurs are set to offer 70 million euros for Gakpo.

20 Jun 2026 20:13:05
Well, with Gakpo he always seems to shine in tournaments for Holland, so if we are going to sell him, no better time for his value.

20 Jun 2026 20:22:42
Anfieldwatch is complete clickbait BS! It has absolutely no inside info whatsoever. Joke of a website. Don't give them any extra clicks!

20 Jun 2026 20:29:31
If we can get good money for Gakpo, I am happy for him to go, but at the same time, I do think he is a valuable player and he, like many others, last season struggled in a generally woeful season. Long way of saying I wouldn't write him off just yet.

20 Jun 2026 20:32:42
I think Gakpo is decent, not the world beater that we would want, but decent.

I would keep Gakpo to rotate, especially since we will need depth, since Ekitike's injury is hard to recover from and would take him to get 100% more than half the season at best.

If we sell him, I feel we will have the same issue with depth on forwards positions as last year.

20 Jun 2026 20:35:14
Why would an English team offer another English team a deal in Euros?

20 Jun 2026 20:43:59
70 million euros? Fair enough, but can someone tell Spurs we're based in Liverpool, not the eurozone?

20 Jun 2026 21:08:32
The article did say pounds, not euros, and is 5 days old.

20 Jun 2026 22:16:34
Gakpo is a player who gets some serious bad press but always seems to play well on the international stage. Personally, I think he is a decent player, but I don’t see him performing his best football in an Iraola team. Would love to be proved wrong, but high intensity isn’t his game, and I always find him lazy in his defensive actions.

20 Jun 2026 22:21:54
Every player has a clean slate. Last season was a tactical farce, and no player can be judged when they were instructed to play they were.

Time to keep some of our powder dry and replace the known departures.

20 Jun 2026 22:34:10
I've always seen Gakpo as a squad player, so would be ecstatic if the club was as forward thinking as I am.

20 Jun 2026 22:36:41
If you can get £50-70m for Gakpo you take it. He's not progressed and he's been extremely lazy under Slot because he knew he was never going to get dropped and didn't have to try.

Diomande, Barcola and Munoz all coming in would be surprising.

But if we're losing Gakpo, Salah and Chiesa, then arguably it's necessary. Especially given Ekitike is going to miss the first half of the season and will need to be eased back in slowly.

20 Jun 2026 22:52:56
Definitely a sell for me, he keeps scoring and adding more to his value.

20 Jun 2026 23:06:04
I don't think we can be looking at selling Gakpo, under different circumstances perhaps, but we need strength in depth up top with Ekitike out injured for the season. Even if we sign Diomande, our attacking options are light.

The only way I'd sell Gakpo is if we get Barcola in to replace him, and I'd still think we need another maybe more short term back up 9.

20 Jun 2026 23:58:22
Did Slot play Gakpo wrong?
Or is he more suitable to playing when he wants a transfer?

21 Jun 2026 07:56:38
Gakpo was awful last season, but he still has 43 goals in his last 3 seasons for us as a LW

Darwin was also awful in his last season for us, and had 40 goals in his 3 Liverpool seasons as a CF.

One is lauded and the other is deemed awful.

Strange that.

21 Jun 2026 08:34:50
Spot on JK. Darwin had 33 G/A iac 23/24, which was 6 more than Isak managed. Darwin was labelled rubbish whilst Isak was labelled world class. 15 assits for Nunez, and he still missed a ton of sitters. Had he scored only half the big chances he failed to bag, he would have been in the mid 40's for goal contributions, no doubt the kid had ability; he just never really had the chance to hone it.

He's the type of guy that wears his heart on his sleeve, somebody who's affected very much by what's going on around him. Klopp knew that, that's why Klopp put so much faith in him even when he was godawful; he knew he had to build Darwin up. That's what made Klopp such a good man manager; he knew what individuals needed to get the best out of them.

Klopp got Darwin to double his goal contributions from his first season, and the kid still had plenty of room for improvement. With 33, to have bagged 6 more goal contributions than Isak, and knowing for a fact he should have netted another 10 is wild.

Then Robotnik arrived, who clearly had his mind made up about Darwin before he ever got off the plane, which I believe was due to his involvement in the Copa America brawl with fans. Darwin went from starting practically every game under Klopp to just 8 league starts for the entire season under Baldylocks. I think had Klopp stayed on one more season, we would have seen a whole different Nunez.

21 Jun 2026 08:45:08
I don't want us to sell Gakpo. The season before, he was just as good as Diaz... if not more... Diaz is a poor finisher.... In a slower league like Bundesliga he will shine more... Gakpo needs more competition tho... that will elevate him.

21 Jun 2026 08:51:45
Chewy, I think you took my comment completely wrong.

I was giving Gakpo credit.

21 Jun 2026 09:07:15
If the right money is put down, Cody will be going. Although he plays well in flashes, you can't have a £250k a week man on the bench. If he was consistently very good for us, that would be a different story.

20 Jun 2026 19:42:27
Anything going on with Barcola? Feels like he keeps getting linked with us. Would hate if he goes to Arsenal.

20 Jun 2026 19:55:18
Liverpool have just signed a young, promising LW. It's extremely unlikely they'd sign another.

Looking at their actions, it would suggest the cost of Diomande + Barcola was seen as too high, and rather than opt for an alternative, cheaper RW option to Diomande so they could invest in Barcola, they appear to have committed a massive amount of their budget on securing Diomande, and have consequently moved for a cheaper, but still promising LW alternative to Barcola.

Of course, if Gakpo moves on, perhaps Liverpool would still have budget / desire for Barcola, but given Arsenal are likely to be moving on Martinelli and / or Trossard, and don't otherwise have a lot of work to do on their squad, them investing heavily on their top priority at LW makes more sense.

Hence, Barcola to Arsenal seems more likely at this point for them.

As for Liverpool, Diomande + Munoz seems a better bet than, for instance, Barcola + Minteh (or any other RW on the market). I can understand the logic, at least.

20 Jun 2026 20:08:55
Sorry @ Petethepool, but I'm hearing different, as we are still hoping to get both Diomande & Barcola, as we want both on the wings & Munoz will be used more through the middle, but also as a winger when needed. Ideally both will join, but if not then definitely one of...

20 Jun 2026 20:37:05
Certainly nothing to apologise for if that does happen, @Raceylfc - it would set the club's attack up for years.

20 Jun 2026 21:11:17
Petethepool, Munoz is not first choice, he's had just one season in top flight football with a team that barely escaped relegation, and managed just 8 G/A. We will definitely continue our pursuit for a proper senior LW.

20 Jun 2026 22:52:05
After today's game, it didn't look like 100 million euros for Diomande is worth it, but his assist did score the first goal.

World Cup stupid pricing, but Gakpo is surely a 90mil player now.

20 Jun 2026 23:12:47
Should young Rio be worried about playing time, at this rate?

21 Jun 2026 00:08:09
Keith, no, he's not a starter by any means, and he has holes in his game, he needs senior players in front of him to learn from and give him time to develop. He should be getting regular minutes, and he will, no doubt. He's shown his ability, and the club has immense faith in him.

21 Jun 2026 03:35:44
@Rax,

I posted a couple of days ago that I think he might struggle a little with teams that press aggressively and stay tight to him like Nagelsmann did today.

He's a good player for sure, but people should expect at least a year of bedding into the league.

Wirtz needed it, and he is a much better, much more experienced player. People don't understand the jump in speed and physicality from Bundesliga to Premier.

21 Jun 2026 06:52:12
You don't think Diomande has holes in his game, Chewy?

20 Jun 2026 15:23:18
Ben Jacobs is reporting that, should we fail to land Diomande, we have other targets lined up: Brighton’s Minteh, Lille’s Fernandez-Pardo, and Koln’s El Mala.

A key factor in these targets is allegedly the club's belief that we need to inject pace into the team.

I’m a big fan of Minteh. Not seen the other two play enough to judge either way.

Hopefully we get Diomande done soon.

20 Jun 2026 16:13:57
MK, if this post by Jacobs is anything to go by I will take it with a pinch of salt.
Ben Jacobs] Liverpool have no plans to complete a summer review into Arne Slot's position at the club, with the Dutchman not under pressure to be sacked.

20 Jun 2026 16:51:35
Just wanna hear that Diomande is officially a Red.
Was hoping it would be done before the Germany game tonight.

20 Jun 2026 16:58:33
Never mind Ben Jacobs.

20 Jun 2026 17:14:30
Thanks, MK. Good to see all the other options. Minteh looks great, doesn't he.

If paying 100+ for Diomande means not getting Wharton/Scott, another RB and/or CB, then I'd go for a cheaper option personally.

20 Jun 2026 17:23:27
Jacobs? He's crackers. His legitimacy is more fragile than a water biscuit.

20 Jun 2026 17:30:34
Skezza11, don't worry about money, we're top 5 wealthiest clubs in the world. Minteh might 'look great', but is he great? 7 G/A last season, we're trying to replace Salah here. As it stands, Minteh is not the man for the job. Diomande outperforms him in every relevant metric from pass completion to chance creation. Brighton would charge us £80m for Minteh anyway.

20 Jun 2026 17:56:59
Minteh really isn’t very good. Has no idea what to do with the ball other than head down and charge at defenders. He’s nothing more than a diet Adama Traore, and given that Brighton will ask for north of £80m, I’d want a lot more than 3 goals & 4 assists a season. His final ball and decision making are appalling.

Pardo isn’t particularly impressive and Lille have a history of extracting big money for underwhelming players (Nicolas Pepe, for example), El-Mala’s scoring record is very good, but there was that whole thing that he wouldn’t sign for Brentford unless they bought his brother, which feels like a red flag.



Also, there are far better midfielders out there than Wharton and Scott for half the money. It’s just English tax.

20 Jun 2026 18:15:56
'Diet Adama Traore', another Victor classic. 🤣🤣

20 Jun 2026 18:19:06
I really like Minteh. In terms of actual talent and work ethic, he stands out even if his stats aren't there yet. I'd prefer Diomande, but Minteh is not a bad alternative if Leipzig play hard ball. 7g/a for Brighton in the Prem is probably pretty not far off being comparable to 21g/a in the Bundesliga for Leipzig! What both players have that really sets them apart is their work off the ball, though.

That's rare in young wingers because they normally think they're too important to try hard if they are skilful and fast.

20 Jun 2026 19:20:05
There's a decent left winger playing for the Dutch tonight, may be worth keeping after all.

20 Jun 2026 19:32:17
Yeh ... Gakpo is playing really well tonight; as is Gravenberch.

20 Jun 2026 20:14:30
It's one thing doing it against Sweden, who would struggle to get a result against most Premier League teams. The right-sided players Gakpo was up against play for Braga and Holstein Kiel.

20 Jun 2026 21:24:44
And most of the right sided players he plays against in England are average players too. The man had a poor season last year, but it was exaggerated by a stupid narrative of only being picked because he's Dutch, like Slot, and people creaming over Rio before he's done anything.


Gakpo is a quality player, and will be another player like Diaz we look at when he leaves and think, oh he's a better player now.

20 Jun 2026 22:12:08
Don't think any of the 3 are on Diomande level. Rayan would be the best option.

Chewy, we are in top 5 richest revenues not profit, any purchases would need to be funded by sales and/or debt.

21 Jun 2026 06:12:04
I've liked Rayan at Bournemouth but I thought he was pretty poor for Brazil against Haiti when he came on at half time.

What I'm trying to say is, I think it's hard to judge players based on their performance for their country. Some do extremely, some are hit and miss due to many different factors.

I think club performance is more accurate.

20 Jun 2026 14:15:06
Felix Nmecha's agents sounding out clubs for him. £52m package. Spoken to us and Utd.

20 Jun 2026 17:00:33
I like him. Hope we go for him.

20 Jun 2026 17:57:27
Would count as home grown too, I think?

20 Jun 2026 19:50:02
And he'd play where? Have we sold anyone yet?

20 Jun 2026 21:26:17
@Match Mo, Robbo and Konate have gone, so that's three players already gone from our squad / starting eleven, so there is room in the squad.

20 Jun 2026 14:06:53
I see Romanian right back Andrei Ratiu is being linked with us, not heard much about him tbh.

20 Jun 2026 17:37:52
It was thought Iraola wouldn't have much input into signings, but the first few left field targets seem to have his imprint on them. If we can't get Koyode, then this type of signing is a good fall back option, and definitely better than using central midfielders at right back.

20 Jun 2026 19:03:03
Packed him loads on FIFA, nice pacey rb. 👌

20 Jun 2026 11:23:07
Hi all,

Real Madrid have entered preliminary talks with Szobos' team. The expectation amongst agent circles is that they will request him to run down his contract.

20 Jun 2026 11:48:07
Surely this is tapping up?

20 Jun 2026 11:50:31
If that's the case he wouldn't get another game if it were up to me. But I'm petty about things like that.
I can't abide Real Madrid.

20 Jun 2026 11:53:38
This is really pi**ng me off!

If they want him, then put a bid in! This running down the contract malarkey is really annoying me!

{Ed025's Note - you are top of the league at it 2Shoes.. :)

20 Jun 2026 11:56:48
Who cares, let them have him.

He's not pulling up trees every week, so no problem. Liverpool will be fine.
I can't stand anyone who isn't passionate about being a Liverpool player.
So he can go now or later.
Not bothered.

20 Jun 2026 12:00:22
Soon as he started shrugging the fans, I went off him.

I can take players doing the snide Instagram posts, I can get over the outbursts on the manager, but standing there in the middle of the pitch shrugging at the fans leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Wouldn't even blink if he left or signed a new deal, couldn't care less.

20 Jun 2026 12:00:54
We should sell him this summer regardless.
He can neither play double pivot nor play as a 10. He lacks defensive awareness and tackling at pivot, is not press resistant, and is not decisive enough to play as a 10. He lacks vision. I feel the Anderson enquiry could be somewhat related to Dom's departure.

20 Jun 2026 12:02:55
Club to agent chat is legal.

I am sure Real are telling a player somewhere to run their contract down every day.

I really like Dom and want him to stay with us and win lots of stuff together, but equally, everyone has a price.

20 Jun 2026 12:09:58
Firstly, I'm not arsed if he leaves. (I think he's up his own ass billy big balls.)
Secondly, the club need to start asking players at beginning of negotiations what do you want in contract then ask if there is room for negotiation then give the player and agent a 3 month window to sort a deal.

Get tough; if they refuse to be sold, then we know that they're looking to leave for free. I'd remove the squad number and put them in reserves til they leave.

20 Jun 2026 12:12:56
We're kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place here. What are the options? Give in to the rumoured contract terms of wanting close to VVD and Salah wages. Lose him on a free in two years. Or try and sell now, but to who? If you rule out to a domestic rival who could genuinely afford him besides PSG and Bayern? Real won't pay, who knows what Barca's finances are like, and Italian clubs only seem to want to offer Monopoly money for players.

20 Jun 2026 12:13:48
Love Dom as player.

However, I think we make it very clear to him that we put in a lot of work to sign a contract this Summer or we sell him.

I would go big with his offer. If he refuses our very best offer, time to go this summer.

This free transfer crap to Real Madrid needs to end.

20 Jun 2026 12:15:33
It is only tapping up if they contact the player directly and entice him with a future contract, like we did with Virgil.

20 Jun 2026 12:18:02
He is clearly the most likely to do a Trent, but this is where master negotiators Edwards and Hughes earn their corn.
Great business people will find a way to counter players and their agents playing the long game like Trent and Ibou did.

20 Jun 2026 12:20:22
Had a feeling this was coming ever since seeing a clip of Trent and Dom talking as they walked into the tunnel together when Real Madrid played at Anfield.

If his head has been turned, then two options come to mind. Either some sort of a swap deal (or swap plus payment) for one of Madrid's midfielders such as Tchouameni, Valverde, or Camavinga (although Camavinga's injury record is a major red flag).

Otherwise, Alex Scott also has 2 years on his contract left.

His future could potentially be linked, so he might also run his contract down and move to Liverpool on a free in 2 years.

It's not ideal to have a player who wants to be elsewhere, so if he could be sold, then the minimum asking price should be enough to cover however much it will cost to get Liverpool's first choice and ideal replacement, but hopefully with some profit above that as well.

20 Jun 2026 12:23:27
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner for the coming season's pantomime villain... I give you Dominick Szoboszlai, boo, boo, hiss, hiss. Let the vilification commence.

20 Jun 2026 12:37:12
Offer him a contract. If he doesn't take it, put him on the market and start the process of phasing him out, replacing him in the squad. This needs to start being the approach to all players, regardless of importance, when they get to the two-year mark.

20 Jun 2026 12:50:17
The club life and football will go on regardless of what Szoboszlai does. Let's be honest, prior to last season he's only shown glimpses of quality, and most people were happy for Wirtz to be a Szobo replacement. Yes, last season was his best and much improved, but still inconsistent at times, so I wouldn't worry too much.

Great player on his day, yet to find the consistency to be a great player every game. I think Iraola's style suits him perfectly, and we should see a better version of him, but it's not like we would be losing prime Messi on a free. Hopefully he signs; if not, I'm sure we will find a very able replacement.

20 Jun 2026 12:53:28
Until FIFA cap agent fees for free transfers, or ban agents getting a percentage of transfer fees altogether, removing the incentive for agents to collude with other clubs to get their players to run down contracts, it's gonna be increasingly common. Maybe clubs need to mandate a plus 1/2 years extension into contracts where, if transfer negotiations are unsettled and about to go into the final year, clubs can trigger the option to increase the contract by a year until the player decides to either extend or be sold. It is annoying if true and specifically RM with Trent, Konate, and potentially Sobbo, that's got to be 200M in transfer fees we have lost, and the more players agents and new clubs collude to get players to run contracts down as a business, it's devaluing the value of your assets considerably and business owners don't like that...

in this case if we are 99% sure Sobbo is doing a Trent, and as much as I like the lad as a player... you give him 3 options, sign a new deal, be sold this window, or be training with the youth team all next season with no 1st game time.

{Ed025's Note - im with you Eddie..

20 Jun 2026 12:55:15
Westwood666, That would be counter productive as it would mean leaving one of the top performers out of the side, whilst he is being paid, to eventually leave on a free anyway.
Szob probably wants to earn the same as Isak, which is fair enough since he's done a whole lot more than Isak has to date.

20 Jun 2026 12:56:29
After what happened with Trent and Konate, it might be worth setting a precedent here and playing hardball. Inform Dom that if he intends to run down his contract, then the club only wants to have players that are fully committed, so he may be considered as more of a squad player, rather than a first team regular, for the remaining 2 years.

A top player's career isn't long enough to afford 2 years being just a squad player.

That would encourage him and his agent to try and get Madrid, or another club, to pay up. If Madrid do actually value him that much, or anywhere as much as Liverpool do, then surely they would be prepared to pay.

If they aren't prepared to pay for him, then he might have to question whether leaving is a good move, and especially if Liverpool are flying with top new players coming in and Iraola managing the team.

20 Jun 2026 13:00:53
Are we maybe looking at Thuram with consideration to Szoboszlai's situation?

20 Jun 2026 13:14:36
I'm not saying don't play him, I'm saying make him available and start the process of finding a replacement for the sake of continuity at that point. There's no reason we can't go and find someone better, and the sooner that's done, the better it is for the club, better for the squad, and minimises the negative effects of a sudden change as opposed to a slower transition, even if the player does go for free.

20 Jun 2026 12:08:28
Come on Ed25, yes we've not been by the book on our transfers at all. But at least we have paid the clubs the going rate and above. We don't really do free transfers.

{Ed025's Note - i think you are too nice to your players Janmo, no mater who they are if they do not sign a new contract with 2 years left on their current deal then they should be put on the transfer list mate, other clubs are treating you like mugs..

20 Jun 2026 13:04:01
It's the new way.
As ed025 says, we'll do it or have done it to other teams.
I don't like it but it is what it is.

20 Jun 2026 13:26:09
Always play our best team. Dom's a starter when available,

Line up his replacement, and bring them in asap. Make Dom have to prove he's worth his place in the team.

20 Jun 2026 14:07:37
Offer him a 5 year contract on 250,000 a week.... If he doesn't put pen to paper straight away, get him on the transfer market ASAP, and that goes for the rest of them too. I thought Szob should have been next captain, but obviously he's just another big time Charlie.

Sick to death of players being approached by Real Madrid or Barca. Understand the lifestyle is a big draw, but they can have all that when they retire anyway. No more free players. Ffs.

20 Jun 2026 14:09:33
The only other way around it is to refuse to do any deals with Real Madrid. Don't sell to them unless they offer double the price. Don't buy from them.
There needs to be a Europe-wide agreement to shun them.

20 Jun 2026 14:24:14
Real Madrid are just a bunch of parasitic locusts, and are universally hated with their arrogance that any player would go them if they flutter their lashes!! Too many players have gone for sweet F A and that's an unsustainable business model. Szobo needs to put pen to paper and commit or go - he thinks he's Stevie G but couldn't lace that lads boots!!. 🤯😡😤

20 Jun 2026 14:26:35
Pelican and WDW are right. What do you expect a player's agent to do after he signs his player to a contract? Twiddle his thumbs for 5-6 years and be happy with what he's just earned? Of course, he's gonna start working on the next big deal, and almost immediately.

It's really up to the player, in the end. Salah's agent kept trying everything to get him new deals after that first blockbuster season. Salah kept staying and renewing. Both loyalty and money. Not only loyalty. Some players have both, some players don't have it.

20 Jun 2026 14:33:57
It's either Citeh jumping in to pick up our transfer options or it's Real sniding in ref contract run down, either way, they're foreseeable and not being managed properly, or they are and we don't see the logic.

I'll go for the former.

20 Jun 2026 14:36:24
"Sobstorey" is only a Right Back after all! Why all the fuss.

Talking with TAA in the Tunnel, perhaps Trent saying I'm replacing you at LFC, you're going with Maureen sucker?

20 Jun 2026 14:45:51
We could say to Sobbo sign a new deal or we will play you at right back all next season... oh, that's off the table, thank Slot!!!.

20 Jun 2026 14:50:17
Maybe a clause can be put into a contract that stops a player leaving LFC to go to RM - but, once a player signs a contract, they can legally run down that contract and cannot be sold unless they agree to it, and it would also be considered Constructive Dismissal if:

"I'd remove the squad number and put them in reserves til they leave." or "Be training with the youth team all next season with no 1st game time."

20 Jun 2026 15:03:22
There should be a premium tax and an extremely low wage cap on high value free agents to deter this nonsense; it's gotten completely out of hand. Something has to be done.

20 Jun 2026 15:25:05
Don't mind if he's a starter or was Liverpool's best player last season. Negotiate with him a new deal, and let him know if he hasn't signed an extension in the next six months, he will train and play just for the reserve team. Same thing applies to Mac Allister.

Enough of this Real Madrid charade stealing our players in their prime for free.

20 Jun 2026 15:25:53
As Dom is not at the World Cup, that will give Iraola a chance to have a good and thorough chat with him about his plans and future, as soon as possible, and to assess him in pre-season training.

This could well be Iraola's first big challenge to handle and to show his worth.

I've got a feeling that Iraola will be more than up to that challenge, and we will all have plenty of reasons to be optimistic this coming season, with whatever decisions are made about Dom's future.

20 Jun 2026 15:39:32
Szob is a very good player, but not yet a galactico. Neither is Konate or Trent, for that matter.

RM's transfer business more recently seems to be all over the place in terms of piecing together a cohesive team, but financially it must be working for them.

20 Jun 2026 15:54:47
Not sure whether to believe this. Why only Liverpool players yet pay big money for crap like Enzo Fernandez?

20 Jun 2026 15:58:44
Let him run his contract down. As long as he gives his all for us for two more seasons.
He'll be 28 by then and we'll have had his peak years.
There'll always be someone younger and better comes along to replace him. And Real won't be getting a player at his peak.

20 Jun 2026 14:06:37
Been saying this for ages now, puy him in reserves and let him rot if its true.
There needs to be an example made at some point to stop this continually happening.
I would stop all dealings with the white rubbish club too.
Surely there's a chalk board at the headquarters with all names and end dates on it, its easy, just state that no signing of new contract extension at the 2 year mark and your in the bike shed with all the crap, no more games to showcase your skills, your out on Yr own for a the full 2 years with no way back.
Sign at the 2 year left mark or this is what will happen, fact!!
I also said about being creative when a player first signs contract, maybe we have the right to extend at the 2 years left mark whether they like it or not to avoid dirty run down tricks.


Either or both would work for sure and if we have to pay wages for a non starter then so be it.
It won't happen too many times after the first example is made.
Hate the Spanish cheap skates, why should everyone else pay for players and they be able to do this over and over.
Employ someone to bug their place and get the evidence of tapping up players then sue their arses, be worth paying out for someone to bug their phones, we could ask MR Craig, he's well versed in that rubbish and would probably do it for free.

20 Jun 2026 14:01:22
Thing is Ed25, you can put them on the transfer list all you want, but you can't sell them unless they agree to the move. Clubs are basically screwed to be honest, maybe they should all just agree to bin off transfer fees, every player just exists on 3 year deals and can leave at the end of that and no earlier unless there is mutual agreement (probably not legal though).

That or they all just exist on 12 month deals. Transfers fees are getting out of hand big time, and Madrid are taking the piss year after year with clubs all around the world.

{Ed025's Note - it just seems unfair to me Hopefull, clubs pay big money and obscene wages to these prima-donnas and they just do what they want mate..

20 Jun 2026 17:03:30
DarrenA, it's not that easy, mate, I'm sure a sporting director would love to implement that strategy, but you'll be hard pressed to find a manager who would be happy to sideline their best player, run the risk of losing games and put his own reputation/career on the line. They're going to want to play the best possible team at all times.

20 Jun 2026 17:43:49
People view this far too simplistically.

Ok, so Madrid tells your player to run down his contract. If we know, then so does everyone else. Which means if you try to sell him, who will bother trying to buy, knowing they're competing with Madrid free transfer wages?

Let's assume someone does think they can. The player still has to agree to go. This was part of the issue with Trent. You can list the player but the player can still refuse to go.



This also means that if you list them without the player requesting a transfer, the club still has to pay all the loyalty bonuses to the player as per the contract (they're usually pretty high), and everyone buying knows you want to sell, and so you will get less money for him.

It's not FIFA, guys, if you don't want a player you can't "just sell him".

20 Jun 2026 18:08:07
Exactly, Nevada, it's a no-win situation for clubs.

Having reflected, I think the only real solution is a UEFA-wide team wage cap. So if you want to play UEFA-sanctioned tournaments, you have to limit how much you spend on wages as a team.

Not related to income, just a single figure the same for everyone. It works in NFL, it can work in UEFA.
If you want the £400k per week Salah, then you won't be able to afford the £500k per week Mbappe.

20 Jun 2026 18:15:37
Wenger spoke about this some time ago. Madrid are prepared to pay the high wages and signing on fee as long as they don't pay a transfer fee.

Remember, David Alaba went to Madrid on a 'free', but he earned approximately 20 million euros per annum on a 5-year contract.

20 Jun 2026 18:24:23
Snowflakelfc you mention a Anderson enquiry, what have you seen? i haven't seen anything. cheers

20 Jun 2026 17:23:14
I really don't think it's a difficult position for the club, like edd25 said, if you don't sign a contract when there's only 2 years left you place the player on the transfer list. Once you make an example of 1 player the rest will fall in line.

20 Jun 2026 19:28:08
The flip side of it is that we have had a top player for 5 years who is Real Madrid standard, in the peak of his years... for only (I roll my eyes as I type it) £120k a week.
I'm pretty sure the FSG model was to pay higher transfer fees, to get the best young talent available, who don't demand the highest wages, to try and keep the wage bill down. Thiago was the expectation.
After we won the league with Klopp, we seemed to move away from this model and reward players who were aging and had little resale value, ie Henderson, Fabinho, Salah, Virgil etc. We got lucky with Saudi coming in for some of them.
We chose not to increase Diaz's contract, who was on his original contract and chose to let it run its course, same with Wijnaldum and maybe Firmino (can't remember if he was offered new deal).

My point is, that FSG seem happy to keep most players on the relatively low wages to see out their contracts, if they won't sign new ones or be sold.
I'm pretty sure that if they had offered Kanate the Real Madrid wages 2 or 3 years ago, he would still be here now, but they were happy to keep him on lower wages for as long as possible and take the chance that they might lose him on a free.
I think we are trying to move back to the original model.

20 Jun 2026 20:10:35
Ed25 I agree with you, but 1 club is making a mug out of us. People are quite vocal about us tapping up and it can never be controlled but Madrid are taking this to new levels. Trent Konate and Dom had 2 years left and they are being asked to run their contract down. They did the same with Mbappe it's just not cricket mate.

{Ed025's Note - I’m with you Janmo, that’s why I feel you have to make a stand mate or it will become the norm..

20 Jun 2026 21:23:03
I would put him in the reserves just for wearing those stupid kecks and loafers with no socks.

The problem we have is his contract is up 2028, I think, so that's a long time of him disrupting the dressing room if nobody buys him.

Also, I do wonder about football players belonging to a cabal of a secret club of money grabbing mercenaries.

They never turn against each other when contracts or moves are involved. It's never spoken about and kept on the quiet. Like they all know they are taking the piss on this money gravy train and don't want to draw attention to it. Loyalty in football is completely dead.

20 Jun 2026 21:32:58
@Ron, when you said we shouldn't deal with EM, I agree with you 100%. The only problem is we haven't been dealing with RM. A player is free to go wherever they want when they complete their current contract and become free agents.

21 Jun 2026 03:41:48
@Ron Keague,

Agree with you. As a big hockey fan, I like the flat NHL salary cap which is dictated by the total revenue the NHL earns, divided by the number of teams in it. It gives every team the same salary cap, so even if you have tons of money, like New York for example, you can still only spend the same as the smallest club.



It stops you from building galaticos and forces you to consider team chemistry and budgets more than star power.

20 Jun 2026 10:10:19
Is it true?

Context (someone posted this on X):

Exclusive: I can confirm Liverpool have had a 3rd bid accepted by RB Leipzig for the transfer of Yan Diomande.

Fee agreed: 94.8 million euros plus 18 million euros in achievable add-ons with a 15% sell on fee.

Contract terms agreed until 2031 at 180k a week.


Carra or Robbo.
Can you confirm?

20 Jun 2026 10:41:09
The ITKs normally post once they know something, mate. I normally assume if they haven't already posted about a certain rumour, then they don't know anything about it yet or are not confident about it.

20 Jun 2026 10:48:32
Wouldn't that be our second bid?

20 Jun 2026 10:53:10
I'm pretty sure we have only bid once according to reports, so the idea of having a 3rd accepted is strange.

20 Jun 2026 11:25:35
It's all just posturing for optics on each side. We don't usually make bids unless we know the parameters of the deal. The pattern on the Wirtz signing was similar. So, I assume it is close or even possibly agreed, but being kept quiet until today's Ivory Coast game is out of the way.



Yes, he's very expensive, but he's also very unique - two footed, good off the ball numbers, speed over distance as well as from standing start and comfortable on either side. He has all the attributes of Semenyo but younger and better one vs one.

20 Jun 2026 12:25:15
@Racey, perhaps that's why we always pay so much..... Someone at the club can't count. 👍

20 Jun 2026 12:53:10
Anybody got any idea why Rangers, Villa, Bournemouth, and Chelsea rejected him? Seems strange that only 2 years later he's a 100million player.

{Ed001's Note - Rangers didn't reject him, they just wouldn't pay 7k a week.}

20 Jun 2026 13:06:41
Oh, fair enough. I can understand that, cheers. I do love these wildcard, "non-institutionalised" players. Always something less predictable about them.

20 Jun 2026 17:59:56
Line up his replacement, make him the first choice and say Szoboszlai that he's welcome to run his contract down, but he'll have to accept a diminished role in the squad, so cup games and warming the bench.

19 Jun 2026 22:09:08
Diomande rumour going about:

Fee agreed 94.8 million euros plus 18 million euros in achievable add ons with a 15% sell on fee.

Contract terms agreed until 2031 at 180k a week.

19 Jun 2026 22:25:08
Sheesh, that's some lay out.

19 Jun 2026 22:29:42
Jokes on them 15% sell on fee... don't they know all our best players leave on a free. 🤭

19 Jun 2026 22:42:40
I laughed out loud at that Sofa fan and then realised Konate just left on a free. Maybe not our best players eh?

19 Jun 2026 22:43:36
Less than £100m.

19 Jun 2026 23:00:23
£82m rising to £97m isn't too bad. That's a total package of £153m over 6 years. Isak at £125m plus 280kpw is £212m over the same period.

19 Jun 2026 23:09:52
That's some serious £s for a 19yr old with 1 season. Let's hope he's that good!

20 Jun 2026 00:34:24
No chance we accept a 15% sell on clause paying that much.

{Ed001's Note - any sell on would be on profit I would expect.}

20 Jun 2026 07:39:55
If we have agreed a sell on fee that is pretty stupid. We're giving them 100mil f***s.

20 Jun 2026 08:24:22
Why such a short contract? 5 years only?
Then, we struggle to get the player to extend and lose them for free?

Need to add option to trigger an addiction 2 years.

20 Jun 2026 09:46:14
5 years is short???... Just garbage. You want us to become Chelsea by any chance? Wake up.

20 Jun 2026 10:24:42
I don't think we should be turning the lad into an addict. 😉

20 Jun 2026 10:39:59
I'll be watching him up against Wirtz later today, I remember him from AFCON, when Egypt put 3 past them in the quarters. He looked okay, but I feel we are getting our pants pulled down by Leipzig here. We have paid them really good money for Keita, Konate & Szoboszlai, and they still overprice the living s*** out of us.

Those players would have moved anyway, so it's not like we are poaching or stealing their players. Oh well, I hope he is a huge sucsess and we completely forget his cost. 🙏

20 Jun 2026 11:20:14
Watching him against Wirtz?

Has Slot taken over Germany and employing Wirtz as his new right back? 🤣

20 Jun 2026 11:24:34
That's just good business on their behalf, ASB. It's totally irrelevant who we bought and what we paid on previous deals. They have him. We want him. Pay the cost to get what we want or move on. Those are the choices. Hopefully he'll prove to be worth every cent.

20 Jun 2026 12:41:39
JK23, Wirtz plays on the left for Germany, and Diamonde on the right, so Dimoande would be up against Brown & Wirtz 😅 You good? Hehe.

19 Jun 2026 19:04:15
Not a rumour. Just wondering if there is any interest from ourselves in Said El Mala. Looks to be a quality player albeit another predominantly left sided one.

19 Jun 2026 21:49:05
You have answered your own question, no?

20 Jun 2026 10:34:11
I heard he was bad.