The time is ticking for Liverpool in the transfer window. With just seven days left, Liverpool is inching closer to being in the same situation as on deadline day this time last year, when the Reds scrambled to bring in Arthur Melo on loan.
This time though, Liverpool cannot afford to make the same mistake, and the Reds don’t have to do so. There’s a sensible path to tread in the final week.
Khéphren Thuram is a player who has been on the club’s radar all summer, and he is still available and on the market with Nice seemingly open to allowing him to depart.
Speaking to the press at the unveiling of new signings Jeremie Boga and Morgan Sanson on Friday, Nice’s sporting director Florent Ghisolfi was asked about outgoings at the club, particularly about Thuram and Jean-Clair Todibo last month.
“Thuram and Todibo are coveted. We hope to keep all of our vital players, but we’ve never tied players down. If all parties are satisfied, a departure could happen,” Ghisolfi responded as per France Bleu Azur.
That situation seemingly hasn’t changed, and with Thuram the kind of player who can play as a number eight and a number six, Liverpool would be wise to bring him in this summer to complete the club’s midfield rebuild under Jürgen Klopp.
That though is not the only way Liverpool can still oversee a sensible end to the transfer window.
With speculation heating up around Mohamed Salah, one of the most important transfer decisions the club has to make this summer is the decision to keep him at Anfield.
According to Sportitalia as per Sport Witness, state owned All-Ittihad is ready to make a ‘super offer’ to Liverpool and Salah in order to lure him to Saudi Arabia.
This is a report that can no longer be ignored. Things are heating up around Salah, and given the way Saudi Arabia has intensified recruitment over the course of the summer, nothing is off the table. After all, All-Ittihad managed to lure one Liverpool player already this summer in Fabinho.
Now players like Neymar are also moving and continuing their career in the country.
If All-Ittihad does return for Salah, it will be an offer Liverpool likely won’t be able to refuse. But the club simply has to do exactly that.
There is no one in the market right now who is capable of replacing the Egyptian winger. Salah is the most indispensable player in the squad, not just in terms of his quality on the pitch as one of the best ever players to wear the red shirt, but also off the pitch with the example he sets and his leadership mentality in the dressing room.
In the future there will be a time when Salah moves to pastures new, and possibly Saudi Arabia will be a conversation to be had. But Liverpool this summer absolutely cannot even think about considering that possibility.
Salah simply has to remain at Anfield, the success of Liverpool’s transfer window depends on it. Keep him and sign Thuram, and the Reds will have a sensible final week in the market, if not a blockbuster one.
