How Liverpool might line up next season, with Sadio Mane out of the club and Darwin Nunez signed, and as well as young midfielder Fabio Carvalho thrilling Steven Gerrard requirement
For many years, Liverpool's brilliant attacking triumvirate of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane has enthralled the Premier League.
However, three players who have scored a total of 374 goals for Liverpool will be parted ways this summer as Mane joins Bayern Munich.
Jurgen Klopp has brought in Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota in recent years as he has planned for the departure of their star strikers - and a deal for Darwin Nunez was completed before Mane's departure was confirmed.
Nunez is well-known to Liverpool fans from their Champions League games last season.
The 22-year-old scored in both legs of the competition in European clash, against Benfica which the Merseysiders won 6-4 on aggregate.
His fee could rise to £85 million, making him the club's most expensive player, surpassing Virgil van Dijk.
It's a move that should have come as no surprise given Klopp's comments following the Reds' two-leg victory over the Portuguese side, in which he praised the Uruguayan forward's footballing ability... and good looks!
"You're a very attractive young man, huh?" Earlier this year, the Anfield manager made a joke.
"He's also a decent player," he added. "Really, really good." Of course, I knew him before, but his tough battles with Ibrahima Konate put him in front of me. " He was physically strong, quick, and composed in the final moments. Really, really good. In these situations, I always tell people that if he's healthy, it's a huge career ahead of him.
Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has previously argued a goal scoring central midfielder should also be on their agenda this summer.
The Aston Villa boss said on BT Sport after the defeat to Real Madrid: “For Liverpool, if you think about the next five, six, seven years, they’re going to need a midfielder.
“An eight, who can get goals, who can get double figures.
“They are heavily reliant on the front three, or the front five if you include Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino, but you always need one of those midfielders that are going to get in the box and get you goals.”
However, new signing Fabio Carvalho may be able to fill that role.
The addition of the ex-Fulham youngster may have gone unnoticed after a busy few weeks on the pitch for Liverpool, but the signing of the 19-year-old could be significant.
In the previous season, the midfielder scored 10 goals and provided nine assists from attacking midfield, assisting the west Londoners to promotion back to the Premier League.
While he's not the type of player Gerrard was referring to, the Portuguese-born technician could be given a chance to shine next season, and Klopp is a big fan of Harvey Elliott.
The rest of their starting lineup is likely to stay the same, which makes sense when you consider that they were essentially two wins away from winning the quadruple.
Klopp likes to make slight changes season by season and keep the opposition guessing, which could see new signings or even a slight change in system.
As for what that may look like, talkSPORT has taken a look
blogpay
Total Comments: 0