Midfield reinforcements that had been well underway with the acquisitions of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai suddenly went astray.
Liverpool gave up on Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia, and went on to sign Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo, but ended up losing both players to Chelsea.
Returning to the very point of departure, Liverpool is now looking again at midfielders that have been of interest to them, as well as making contact with new midfielders.
Ben Jacobs, a sports journalist, has named Andre and Ryan Gravenberch as two specific names that Liverpool could be looking to try to attract once again.
“Chelsea have signed Moises Caicedo for a £100+15m package from Brighton and in doing so landed their top summer target,”
“It was an incredible saga. Liverpool tried to hijack the deal, successfully bidding £111m, but Caicedo made it clear he wanted to wait for Chelsea, who reached an agreement over the weekend.”
“Liverpool did all they could, but when a player has their heart set on one club it’s hard to change their mind. There has been a feeling all summer that Chelsea would eventually pay what it takes having had multiple bids for Caicedo rejected.”
“Chelsea are also on the brink of signing Romeo Lavia from Southampton, another Liverpool target.”
“As a result I expect Liverpool to be busy between now and when the window shuts. Real Madrid don’t want to sell Aurelien Tchouameni, and the player doesn’t want to leave, so I don’t see too much substance in those links.”
“Andre is another possibility at Fluminense, but the Brazilian club have always hoped to keep hold of him until 2024.”
“Ryan Gravenberch at Bayern is a long-standing target as well. The player is open to the move. It’s just a case of whether Bayern will sell.”
CaughtOffside column