Liverpool transfer news LIVE – Sofyan Amrabat update, Mohamed Salah demand, opportunity for Milan Skriniar

If the Reds are looking for a bargain in defence, Inter Milan would be ready to let Milan Skriniar go for a bargain price this month. Clearly sharing a name with his current club isn’t enough to convince the Slovak to sign a new contract.
Liverpool signed ‘wrong’ Juventus star but could now replace Mo Salah

Theo Squires reflects on Arthur Melo’s previous spell at Liveprool and recent transfer rumors linking the Reds with another Juventus player.

It’s safe to say that Arthur Melo’s loan move to Liverpool hasn’t gone through, at least so far. Signed on transfer deadline day from Juventus last summer, the Brazilian was eventually signed out of desperation as the Reds needed midfield reinforcements.

However, lacking fitness at the time of his arrival, the 26-year-old was limited to 13 minutes from the bench in the Champions League loss to Napoli, plus three unused substitutes and a 63-minute Trophy run EFL. at Rochdale, before suffering a hamstring injury in training in October that required surgery and has since sidelined him.

In Arthur’s absence, Liverpool’s midfield problems have only worsened. While Jürgen Klopp has welcomed the majority of his injury options, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Reds need fresh legs in their engine room as their current options are not up to the desired standards.

Liverpool may have a €37.5m option to buy Arthur’s loan deal, but it would be a huge surprise if they activate it. Although he is expected to return to training in the coming weeks, he still needs to do whatever it takes to even have the opportunity to be the answer to the Reds’ struggles in midfield in the second half of the season.

But despite reports in Brazil that Palmeiras are considering a move for the 26-year-old before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

Arthur, seemingly set to finish the season at Anfield, will be desperate to ensure those 13 minutes at Napoli aren’t his only contribution to Klopp’s first team, whatever his future may be.

In truth, the fact that his loan switch hasn’t worked out so far is annoying and predictable. While the Brazil international may have played for Barcelona and Juventus before Liverpool, neither move was considered successful and he was often cursed with injuries. Considering he was part of Klopp’s last-minute squad, loaned out and brought in only in response to an injury crisis in midfield, his arrival was always a robbery and doomed.

And that’s even without taking into account that he wouldn’t even have been Liverpool’s first target when they made contact with Juventus in late August.

“Everything happened very quickly,” Zakaria said in an interview with Blick. “I didn’t know a move to Chelsea was possible until six hours before the transfer window closed. I packed my things and waited for the contract to be signed. Then I had a medical examination in Turin and it was successful. It was very close.

When asked about Liverpool’s reported interest, he added: “I heard it from my agent, but in the end it was Chelsea and I think I’ll be happier in England than in Turin.”

In reality, Zakaria did little to make the Reds miss out on signing him. He has only played seven games for Chelsea so far and scored one goal. But the fact that Liverpool have inquired about him gives insight into their search for a new midfielder last summer. Since Arthur apparently wasn’t their first port of call, they had to make it as the deadline approached. The Independent reported that Arthur’s signing prompted “surprise in the wider game as nobody else touched him” and that “recruitment figures at other clubs said he raised questions about (sporting director Julian) Ward”.

While it’s unclear who else the Reds turned to before settling on the Brazilian, the 26-year-old’s woes so far make it easy to suggest that Liverpool made a mistake and signed the “wrong” midfielder.

After all, only to Juventus, while they might have lost Zakaria, Adrien Rabiot was still offered by the Old Lady last summer ahead of his impressive comeback in favor of club and country. Meanwhile, Weston McKennie continues to be linked with his departure from the Allianz Stadium and has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs including the Reds.

On paper, the United States international would likely be a better fit at Anfield this season too, considering what Liverpool’s midfield was missing. The 24-year-old is very versatile, playing mainly as a number six midfielder or number eight box-to-box midfielder, although he is also capable of playing wide or further up front, and has also played as a centre-back. -back and even upfront on occasions for former club Schalke.

In the meantime, with its main properties of its defensive skills and working speed, so that it can thrive in regaining the ball, while its passage skills help to dictate the flow of the piece and advance the ball, at least the Reds They offered some legs so necessary in their machine room.

But while things are standing, Liverpool’s interest seems to be nothing more than documents with relationships in Italy and affirm that it could move to Arsenal, where the Gazzetta dello Sport states that Juventus wants at least 17.5 million for the his signature. In the meantime, 90 minutes report that the midfielder was offered to a number of parties in the Premier League, with the Gunners, Leeds United, Newcastle United and Aston Villa all interested in signing McKennie with an option to buy the player
Run in the summer when it is striking.

While the Reds are planning to renew their midfield in 2023, such things will be suspended until summer. After bringing Cody Gakpo to PSV Eindhoven for a first £ 37 million, known Klopp who influenced a future company in January and who did not expect to “splash the money” in the transfer window of this month, before later, before Subsequently it moves to journalists who did not expect his part to be further strengthened. As a result, while it could be argued that Liverpool signed the ‘wrong’ Juventus midfielder in the summer, their position on Arthur’s future suggests they will stand by their initial transfer decision.

But could they turn to the Old Lady again in the future, despite the Brazilian’s difficulties? Reports in Italy seem to think so, with Calciomercato saying another Juventus player could be on their radar.

Liverpool have been linked with Federico Chiesa several times in the past, with talks culminating when the Italian shone at Euro 2020 and speculation over Mohamed Salah’s future at Anfield continued. However, the Egyptian was due to sign a new long-term contract at Anfield last summer. Meanwhile, Chiesa’s season ended early last year in January 2022 after he suffered an ACL injury. But following his return in November, ties with Liverpool were rekindled, with him once again being touted as a long-term replacement for Salah.

Capable of playing anywhere up front or behind a main striker, Chiesa’s privileged role is on the right wing, with Transfermarkt crediting him with 24 goals and 13 assists in 82 appearances on the wing for Fiorentina and nine goals and four assists in 20 appearances in Fiorentina. role for Juventus.

Liverpool have spent the last 12 months revamping their attack, signing Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho and Gakpo, dropping Sadio Mane, Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino and tying Diogo Jota and Salah to new contracts. Meanwhile, the contracts of Roberto Firmino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain expire in the summer. Of Klopp’s current options, the Reds are well covered both centrally and on the left flank, but lack a quality senior alternative to Salah, with the Egyptian historically one of the first names on the list. team and rarely missing a game. But now it’s the 30-year-old’s bad side, maybe it’s time to give him some competition as the 30-year-old isn’t having the best season for a struggling Liverpool this year.

And despite all the Reds’ problems this year, which put them at serious risk of not qualifying for next year’s Champions League, Juventus have to deal with their own after a 15-point penalty for financial irregularities alleged and their bad billing fell from third place to ninth in Serie A. Apart from the European places, they are therefore 11 points behind qualifying for the Europa Conference League, 12 points behind Italy’s place in the League Europa and 14 points on the Champions League places.