With Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas now 32 and 28 respectively, Liverpool’s left-back pairing has seen a decline in continuity of performance, possibly due to their increasing average age. The Scottish defender’s reputation for captaincy is high and the Greek defender may be released.
There has also been a flurry of departures at left-winger in front of the left-backs, including the departure of Luis Diaz. Transfer rumours are gaining momentum, with Barcelona leading the way, and manager Arne Slot is said to be open to a sale.
Bournemouth have been the focus of attention as potential replacements for two such players, with Hungarian defender Milos Kerkez at left-back and Ghana international Antoine Semenyo at left-winger reportedly the targets.
According to The Sun, the Merseyside club are considering giving up their current squad to make both players available, and could hand over Scottish international Ben Doak, who has improved a level since his loan spell at Middlesbrough, as a trade piece.
Former manager Jurgen Klopp recognised the potential of the fast-footed winger when he was just 16 years old and gave him first-team experience through cup competitions. Since taking over as Dutch manager, there has been a drop in the pecking order, but a breakthrough in the Championship could change his mind.
The right winger, who is also starting to make more appearances for Scotland, could replace Federico Chiesa, who has been the subject of smouldering rumours of a return to Italy. However, he is not rated highly by manager Slott, and it is no surprise that he would offer up the youngster for the next generation of team mainstays in Semenyo and Kerkez.
Liverpool are said to be asking for £25 million for the 19-year-old winger, and there are also advantages from a business perspective in using the young hope to make the transfer fee for the two Bournemouth players as cheap as possible.
Ultimately, it will depend on how much faith the Dutch manager has in him, and at just 19 years of age, he has developed rapidly over the past year and would be an interesting option to try him out in the first team next season.
Will the Reds offer up a youngster instead of accepting a player that coach Slot prefers…?