Sell Alisson, Núñez, Díaz & Salah – Buy Solanke, Bakayoko, Summerville & Geertruida – Controversial Transfer Ideas!

Putting sentiment aside, to finish the Reds' rebuild

If Liverpool are looking for durability, and reliability (as well as pace, skill and power), and to offload those at their peak before they dip (as Man City do, and as Bob Paisley made an absolute art form), then I will list some possibilities.

The same applies to players who may be happy, but also wish to play for other clubs, notably Luis Díaz.

I have no problem with Liverpool keeping anyone, and I also trust the scouts and analysts to know who to keep, and who to buy. They’ll know far more than I do, so I always bow to their wisdom; and just offer my own reading of the situation ahead of time.

If Liverpool are looking for players who will fit Arne Slot’s style of play, and also fit the purchasing model for age and future potential, and perhaps also fit in with existing squad members (with playing relationships, or in some cases, working with Slot or his staff before), then I’ve listed some logical but also hard-headed decisions that could be made, on ins and outs.

Sell Alisson!

I still think there’s a 30-40% chance Caoimhín Kelleher becomes Liverpool’s number one this summer.

The situation is similar to 1981, and Ray Clemence, possibly tied with Alisson as the club’s best ever no.1, was sold to Spurs, aged 33, after more than 650 games for the Reds.

He wasn’t past it, but he was not going to get better at 33, was he? Liverpool had Bruce Grobbelaar, a future great in his own right, who would also go on to play almost 650 games for the Reds, and brought a new style of sweeper-keeping.

In a dozen years, Clemence missed six games due to injury. Alisson missed roughly four times as many in 2023/24 alone. Without that, and without Kelleher waiting in the wings, selling Alisson would make zero sense. But now Alisson can be sold without any “churn”.

A year ago, I’d have sold Kelleher. But a year on, he’s now fully proven. And think about it like this: if Liverpool don’t sell Alisson now, they will have to do so in a couple of years; very few keepers remain elite after 34, even if they can go on until they are 38 or 39. And if Alisson loses some pace, as he will, then rushing out on those one-on-ones will be less effective.

One option would be to sell Kelleher for £25m then buy him back in 2026 for £25m, if stipulated (as it would be). But by then Alisson has no value. To sell Alisson for big money now makes things more stable as you don’t need to buy another no.1 in 2026; but obviously a risk.

Alisson probably won’t want to go to Saudi while at his peak, but his friends Bobby Firmino and Fabinho have.

I first floated the idea of selling Alisson a month or two ago, as I felt his return didn’t add anything to the run-in, and there was talk he was unhappy at not going right back into the side. He’s still elite, but he will fade, and Kelleher, who is better with his feet, may now have the more suitable skillset.

I hate those tiny keepers who are only good with their feet, but being a calm, composed passer is increasingly important, and Alisson is increasingly caught out with his passing. Kelleher is a proper keeper. Indeed, his advanced goalkeeping data was better than Alisson’s in 2023/24. (Albeit clubs may used advanced advanced goalkeeping data.)

I feel that Kelleher is ready, so a decision needs to be made. I’d be more than happy to see Alisson remain as the no.1, as the man is a god, but you have to plan ahead.

Equally, I’ve been touting a return for Dominic Solanke for a few months based on the buyback that was definitely inserted in 2019, assuming that it is still active.

Thinking about durability, and also the age-related improvement of players deemed not good enough at 20 or 21 but are by their mid-20s, Solanke is another perfect example. This is most often seen in goalkeepers, centre-backs, holding midfielders and big strikers; others tend to peak a bit earlier.

If you want durability, then there was only one striker in the Premier League who had started every league game after 37 games; and of the 37 starts, and a sub appearance in the final match due to a slight strain, he completed the equivalent of almost 37 full 90s. So when Solanke did play he was almost never taken off. (And he has only missed a few games in the last five seasons, playing over 200 in five years at Bournemouth, with 189 in the league.)

I’ve been suggesting a move for Solanke for a few months, not because I think he’s the best centre-forward in the world, but at 26, and if the buyback (inserted by Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes) is still valid, then that would be a bargain for a player at the maximum age where the Reds will pay a proper fee. He is a great link striker, as fast as almost anyone else clocked in 2023/24, and an elite presser. (More on what else he offers later.) I liked him when he was at the club first time round, but he’s so much better now.

Interestingly, Bournemouth signed Enes Ünal yesterday, another 6’2” no.9, after a few months on loan as Solanke’s understudy. (Ünal made just three starts before signing permanently.)

So, I know that both Edwards and Hughes rated Solanke. Hughes will know him incredibly well. Solanke, as I expected, has come of age. He may be available for a modest fee, if that buyback, denied publicly at the time, is still active. He fits the tactical mould, and ticks lots of boxes, should he want to return.

But it may be that Liverpool genuinely want Slot to “fix” Darwin Núñez, whose issues are partly technical, partly mental; or it may be that the club wants to give that impression, but are open to offers. What’s clear is that they won’t keep anyone who wants out.

As such, what I will go on to discuss are a series of hunches and informed guesses, as to which transfers (and rumours) make sense, and where I think the Reds will be looking to improve.

While I’m against churn, I can see up to four or five major departures, and four or five arriving. Any more and it’s getting into churn territory.

However, the emergence of so many Academy players last season, and the likes of Tyler Morton, Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg excelling on loan, means that a lot of “new” players are already at the club, and could join Jarell Quansah, Harvey Elliott and Conor Bradley in being ready for the XI; ditto losing Alisson to Kelleher, which then requires the less-vital purchase of an understudy only.

What won’t happen is Arne Slot “asking for this player and that player”, or as I keep reading, Slot wanting half his Feyenoord team, or requesting someone who is 28 (Ollie Watkins, who turns 29 this year, does not fit the model); he never worked that way at Feyenoord, and won’t start now – not least as he’s not in charge of transfers.

But there is one Feyenoord player I’d be in for.

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