It was not that long ago that Liverpool fans were piling in on the club’s hierarchy for their lack of signings.
That certainly has not been the case this summer as the Premier League champions appear determined to make up for lost time.
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The Reds have already smashed the British transfer for Florian Wirtz and are willing to do so again if they can persuade Newcastle to sell their star man Alexander Isak.
But, what else is in Liverpool’s in-tray between now and the end of the window?
Sign a striker
Liverpool have made a verbal offer of around £70million for Hugo Ekitike, talkSPORT understands.
Ekitike has already agreed personal terms with the Premier League champions over a six-year contract at Anfield.
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Liverpool’s opening gambit is less than Frankfurt’s €90m [around £77m] valuation.
Newcastle were also in talks over a deal to sign Ekitike, but sources close to the Frenchman say he prefers a move to Anfield over St James’ Park and the Magpies appear to have lost hope.
With the Toon set to move on to alternative targets, namely Brentford’s Yoane Wissa, Liverpool are pushing to get a deal for Ekitike done.
Even before the tragic passing of Diogo Jota which has rocked the football world, Liverpool were planning to strengthen their goal-laden attack.
talkSPORT reported in March that Isak was the Reds’ dream target, but it looks a tall order to tempt Newcastle to cash in on their main man.
Having spent less than their traditional rivals Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham in the last three years, Liverpool have the funds to finance a deal in excess of £120m for Isak.
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The dream scenario for Liverpool fans is they sign both Isak AND Ekitike.
Other names discussed by the Liverpool hierarchy include Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins.
Sell some fringe players
While Liverpool have not been shy in splashing the cash, history tells us their owners, Fenway Sports Group, will also be keen to get money coming into the club to boost coffers.
Darwin Nunez’s arrival from Benfica for an initial £64m in the summer of 2022 was met with excitement from the Anfield faithful.
However, the Uruguayan has struggled to translate his excellent scoring record in Portugal to the Premier League and he was restricted to just eight league starts during the title-winning campaign.
Liverpool have made it clear they are willing to sell Nunez, although their £60m asking price appears to have put Napoli off pursuing a deal.
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AC Milan are also showing interest in Nunez as are clubs in Saudi Arabia, but he would prefer to stay in Europe.
Other possible departures include England Under-21 hero Harvey Elliott – who Liverpool value in excess of £40m – and West Ham target Tyler Morton.
Andy Robertson is out of contract at the end of the coming season and is likely to have to play second fiddle to new arrival Milos Kerkez at left-back. He has been on the radar of Atletico Madrid.
Sort out Ibrahima Konate’s future
Sporting director Richard Hughes deserves great plaudits for the way he navigated his way through the Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk contract sagas to tie them to new deals.
Trent Alexander-Arnold made it clear to Hughes last summer he was always leaving for Real Madrid but as rock star Meatloaf famously said: ‘Two out of three ain’t bad’.
Hughes faces a similar dilemma with Van Dijk’s centre-back partner Ibrahima Konate, who is into the final year of his contract.
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Alex Crook has the latest as Liverpool make first approach to Newcastle as they consider British record move for Alexander Isak
Konate has been stalling on putting pen to paper on an extension because he is unhappy with the salary on offer.
Hughes is known to drive a hard bargain so it is likely Konate will have to lower his demands if he is to remain a Reds player beyond next June.
Liverpool held talks with Dean Huijsen as a possible Konate replacement before he followed Trent to Madrid and Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi is another possible option.
Upgrade Luis Duiz
The Colombian is another sought-after Liverpool star in this window.
Both Barcelona and Bayern Munich are keen to prise Diaz away from Merseyside with the latter having a bid of around £60m rejected.
While Liverpool’s briefing is that Diaz is not for sale, he is pushing for the move to Germany and Bayern are ready to make an improved offer.
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Liverpool know Bayern were willing to pay €100m for Wirtz and if their bid gets anywhere near that figure, I believe they would cash in.
If Diaz is sold then Liverpool retain an interest in Anthony Gordon having come close to signing the England winger from Newcastle last summer.
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Real Madrid’s want-away Brazilian Rodrygo would also be an eye-catching Diaz replacement and preliminary talks between the two clubs are believed to have taken place.
Taking Marcus Rashford from arch-rivals Manchester United has also been discussed internally, but that deal looks highly improbable.
