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It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Liverpool have one of, if not the best depth of attacking options in the Premier League. If it's not Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, or Diogo Jota wheeling away in celebration, then you can almost guarantee that it will be Darwin Nunez or Luis Diaz, and that's without even mentioning Dominik Szoboszlai chipping in from midfield.

That strength in attack has led to a solid start this season, too, with 16 out of 18 points taken, having won five out of their six Premier League games. When January comes around, however, the Reds could still target reinforcements, with one particular target reportedly eyed by Jurgen Klopp himself.

What's the latest Liverpool transfer news?

Throughout the summer transfer window, Liverpool's main focus was rightly placed on finally rebuilding their midfield, welcoming Alexis Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, and Ryan Gravenberch, whilst bidding farewell to both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to Saudi Arabia. Now, six games into the season, it has become clear that their rebuild job has worked wonders.

With their new-look midfield complete, those at Anfield can turn their attention to other areas of the squad, which could see them add to what is already a stacked attack. According to Sport Bild, Liverpool and specifically Klopp are eyeing a move for Borussia Dortmund forward Donyell Malen, who the Reds boss sees as an ideal back-up and eventual successor to Salah.

It must be said, though, that the Bundesliga side are in a position of strength, considering that Malen's contract doesn't come to an end until 2026, and only a £60m offer would see them move from their current stance. It will still be interesting to see whether or not Liverpool decide to test Dortmund's resolve, be it in January or next summer, when Salah's future may come into question once more after previous reported interest from Saudi Arabia.

Should Liverpool sign Donyell Malen?

Since making the move from PSV Eindhoven in 2021, Malen hasn't always been at his best for Dortmund, scoring just five Bundesliga goals in his debut season. In the current campaign, however, the Dutchman has hit the ground running, finding the back of the net three times in five league games, seemingly attracting the interest of Liverpool, in the process.

Whilst the Reds don't need much more attacking reinforcement, given their aforementioned depth, at 24-years-old, Malen is an option that is only likely to get better, meaning that it wouldn't exactly be bad business for Liverpool to secure his signature for the right price.

Malen has earned plenty of praise during his time at Dortmund, too, including from former boss Marco Rose, who said, via the Bundesliga website: "We've always said that we're convinced of his abilities, but it was always clear to us that he needs time to adapt. He has done that very well in the last few weeks.

"He's playing with a lot more confidence, asking for the ball more, demonstrating his flair and chipping in in front of goal. Now we have to work to make sure he can keep it up."

Arsenal’s unbeaten start to the 2023/24 campaign came to a premature end, as Mikel Arteta’s side were defeated 2-1 by RC Lens in the second fixture of the Champions League group stage.

History repeated itself when it came to the Gunners’ luck against the French outfit, adding salt to the wounds of the 1998/99 season in which the north Londoners suffered a loss and a draw against Lens in the tournament that term.

It was a night to forget for the Premier League side, who dominated 67% of possession to no avail, as the hosts had an answer to Gabriel Jesus’ first-half opener and more.

How did Arsenal play against Lens?

Despite having the majority of the ball and registering six shots on target to Lens’ three, it was Franck Haise’s squad that took three points from the affair, thanks to goals from Adrien Thomasson and Elye Wahi.

Thomasson’s spectacular curling strike cancelled out Jesus’ 14th-minute opener, in what was a moment that played a significant part in goalkeeper David Raya’s terrible Sofascore match rating of just 6.3.

The Spaniard gave the ball away needlessly to allow the hosts to equalise, with the mistake not taking anything away from the Frenchman’s expertly crafted finish.

Since arriving on loan from Brentford, the Barcelona-born shot-stopper has been promoted to Arteta’s number one, with tonight marking perhaps the first questionable performance that the 28-year-old has played while representing the Gunners.

Ending the game with a mediocre pass completion rate of 80%, Raya completed just three out of his 12 attempted long balls and recorded -0.79 goals prevented, making just one save in the tie.

Football.London journalist Kaya Kaynak gave the Brentford loanee a match rating of just 5/10, however, he wasn’t the only player to receive such a poor rating from Kaynak.

How did Oleksandr Zinchenko play against Lens?

Also scoring a 5/10 match rating from football.London was Oleksandr Zinchenko, who had his performance dubbed as “horrible” by writer Lewis Ambrose.

Ambrose criticised the Ukrainian for giving the ball away “so often”, which was a fair analysis as the former Manchester City defender lost possession eight times and failed to complete a single dribble attempt, via Sofascore.

It’s not an unusual area of critique that the 26-year-old is summoned to, as supported by his average of losing possession 7.8 times per game so far this term in the Premier League, seeing his defensive work branded as a “liability” by This Week in Arsenal podcaster @ltarsenal.

One element of Zinchenko’s game that was celebratory was his passing ability, as showcased by his pass completion rate of 91% during the game, although the Ukraine international was too often caught far from his unoccupied space at left-back.

In his post-match ratings for football.london, Kaynak described the four-time Premier League winner as being ‘sucked out of position far too easily’, a habit that inevitably allowed Lens to play into space for their winner. What also didn't help was his lack of physicality, losing 100% of his duels.

The most daunting part for the Gunners isn’t the performance or defeat, but the injury blow to Bukayo Saka who could be set for a spell on the sidelines ahead of Arteta’s side’s huge matchup against Manchester City on Sunday.

It’ll be interesting to see if Zinchenko is selected to line up against his former club, after displaying a woeful performance in France that contributed to Arsenal’s first defeat of the season.

Since taking the reins at Tottenham Hotspur in 2023, Ange Postecoglou has endured his ups and downs.

In terms of the latter, the Australian has had to deal with an unbelievable number of injuries, which derailed his incredible start to last season and sees his team down in 12th in the Premier League this year.

However, one of the undeniable successes of his time in North London is how he took what was a diabolically boring team to watch under Antonio Conte and turned them into arguably the most entertaining in the league.

Moreover, the former Celtic boss is trying to reshape the squad with younger, less experienced but more promising players for the long term, whereas that didn’t feel like a goal under Conte, especially as one of the players he sold in 2022 is now back in the Premier League and worth an astonishing 2300% more than the fee he left for.

Spurs' 2022 sales

Before getting to the player in question, it’s worth looking at a couple of other sales made that summer, starting with an attacker who could never quite get to grips with English football: Steven Bergwijn.

The Dutch winger was undeniably talented and had some stellar moments during his time with the North Londoners – like that late comeback against Leicester City.

However, as he never established himself as a key member of the first team, it made sense to move him on when Ajax came in with an offer of around £26m in July 2022.

The 27-year-old winger would go on to score 29 goals and provide 12 assists in 83 appearances for the Amsterdam side before agreeing to join Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Ittihad for around £17.7m in September.

Since then, he has scored eight goals and provided six assists in 21 games while picking up a salary of £147k-per-week.

Appearances

149

83

80

21

Goals

31

8

29

8

Assists

41

8

12

6

Goal Involvements per Match

0.48

0.19

0.51

0.66

Another exit from the summer of 2022 was centre-back and American international Cameron Carter-Vickers, who rejoined Celtic on a permanent deal for around £6m after spending the previous season on loan with the Scottish giants.

The Tottenham academy gem only made five first-team appearances for the club but has since become a key member of the Hoops’ first team, racking up 146 appearances, in which he’s scored seven goals, provided two assists, won three league titles, three League Cups and two Scottish Cups as well.

However, there was another exit that summer, a player who has since returned to the top flight and is now millions more than he was when he left Spurs.

The Ex-Spurs player worth millions more today

Now, it’s famously difficult to judge how good a young player is and how good they could one day be, so every club has several youngsters they probably let go too soon, and in this instance, that youngster was Jack Clarke.

The Englishman joined Spurs from Leeds United in 2019 for about £8.5m, but after a number of lacklustre loan spells back with the Whites, Queens Park Rangers, Stoke City and a slightly better six months with Sunderland, the club opted to sell him to the latter in July 2022 for a fee reportedly as low as £750k, but with a 25% sell-on clause.

Over the next two seasons, the often “unplayable” ace, as dubbed by pundit Alan Clarke, racked up a brilliant haul of 26 goals and 18 assists in just 92 appearances for the Black Cats, which comes to an average of a goal involvement every 2.09 games, which was also enough to convince Ipswich Town to splash £15m on him in the summer.

Now, while the talent is undeniably there, it would be fair to say that the York-born dynamo has struggled at points this season.

The step-up to the top flight has seen his output come down by a significant margin, but even then, he’s been able to score three goals and provide four assists in 23 appearances, totalling just 883 minutes.

Appearances

23

Minutes

883′

Goals

3

Assists

4

Goal Involvements per Match

0.30

Minutes per Goal Involvement

126.14′

That means he’s still been able to average a goal involvement every 3.28 games for the Tractor Boys or, more impressively, every 126.14 minutes.

This, combined with his previous campaigns and the fact he’s still just 24, has seen his valuation remain relatively high, with Football Transfers pricing him at €21.7m, which is about £18m or a massive 2300% increase on the price Spurs sold him for under Conte.

Ultimately, the club probably made the right call for Clarke’s career, but we reckon they might regret letting him go for such a low fee.

He's a "future £100m" ace: Ange struck gold with "outstanding" Spurs phenom

The incredible talent will be a star with Spurs.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Feb 19, 2025

Tottenham Hotspur's Deadline Day has already been hectic enough, but there could still be more to come as Ange Postecoglou scrambles to finalise his squad…

Who could Tottenham Hotspur sign on Deadline Day?

The Australian has brought newfound hope to their corner of north London, and with a deal for Brennan Johnson seeing them unload another big fee, many fans would assume that this would mark their business concluded.

However, The Daily Mail clearly think otherwise, as they offer an update on the Lilywhites' pursuit of longstanding target Conor Gallagher.

They suggest that a verbal bid of around £40m has been sent to Chelsea in an effort to pry the England international from Stamford Bridge, although that is £5m shy of their valuation.

Read the latest Tottenham transfer news HERE…

Whilst the 23-year-old would likely be keen to stay should he be assured opportunities, with the continued spending of the Blues, perhaps opting to join a team in transition could mark a smarter option for the benefit of his budding career.

How good is Conor Gallagher?

By bringing in Gallagher many would wonder where he would even fit in Postecoglou's side.

After all, their start to the season has been impressive, with Yves Bissouma, James Maddison and Pape Matar Sarr forming a solid engine room trio that has driven them to an unbeaten Premier League start.

However, with a few key tweaks, the system could be altered to get the best out of all three of these stars, whilst also including the Cobham graduate.

It is expected that, of all mentioned, it is the 20-year-old who would likely strike up the finest partnership with Gallagher given their shared youthful energy that could prove infectious on the rest of the side.

The Senegalese star has been lauded for these traits by his 58-year-old boss: "He's got a great energy about him, but he's got quality there too.

"He's one of those midfielders who causes the opposition real problems because whether it's him running with the ball or without the ball, he runs forward, he runs aggressively and he disrupts the opposition. He's just got a great temperament for a young guy."

This would blend well with their potential new signing, who was praised similarly by journalist The Athletic's Mike Stavrou: "Conor Gallagher was absolutely relentless with his pressing and energy tonight. Some player Chelsea have got."

Such work rate is crucially blended with a wealth of attacking talent, best showcased during his loan spell at Crystal Palace. There he scored eight and assisted three in the league alone, having struggled since returning to his boyhood club.

Despite that, when compared to other midfielders across Europe he still ranks in the top 14% for total shots per 90, the top 5% for touches in the attacking penalty area per 90 and the top 7% for blocks per 90, via FBref.

To place such all-around excellence beside Sarr, who has enjoyed a fine start to the season already, it becomes clear that they could allow the other to push forward whilst the other drops deep, both boasting the quality to thrive in these roles.

After all, his 7.67 average rating in the league is buoyed by one goal, one assist and a 90% pass accuracy, alongside one key pass and four ball recoveries per game, via Sofascore.

With Sarr finally showing the promise that his initial £14.6m move suggested he had, he and Gallagher could prove to be one of the division's finest midfield pairings in no time at all, set to dominate for the next decade.

MatériaMais Notícias

O goleiro Mailson, do Sport, recebeu uma sondagem do Heerenveen, da Holanda, mas as partes não se acertaram e o camisa 1 permanece defendendo o Leão. Segundo apurou oLANCE!,o negócio não foi fechado por conta do pagamento de um documento para que o brasileiro atuasse no Velho Continente, e do prazo apertado para a janela de transferências na Europa que se encerra nesta segunda-feira.

O Heerenveen segue monitorando a situação de Mailson, pois os valores acordados agradavam todas as partes envolvidas no negócio. Cria da base do Sport e com apenas 24 anos, o atleta teria sua primeira chance no futebol europeu em um acordo que seria por um ano de empréstimo com opção de compra ao final da temporada.

Titular nas últimas temporadas pelo Leão da Ilha do Retiro, Mailson perdeu espaço na equipe titular desde a chegada do técnico Jair Ventura. O brasileiro deve seguir lutando por um lugar dentre os 11 titulares com o objetivo de ganhar minutos e seguir na vitrine para o futebol europeu. É possível que os holandeses façam uma nova investida na próxima janela de transferências.

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عزز فريق أتالانتا الإيطالي تقدمه أمام باير ليفركوزن بهدف ثانٍ في المباراة المقامة بين الفريقين بنهائي الدوري الأوروبي.

ويلتقي أتالانتا وباير ليفركوزن على ملعب “أفيفا” في العاصمة الأيرلندية، دبلن، لخوض نهائي بطولة الدوري الأوروبي لموسم 2023/24.

وأضاف أديمولا لوكمان الهدف الثاني لفريقه أتالانتا في الدقيقة 26 من عمر المباراة من تسديدة رائعة في الزاوية البعيدة.

وكان لوكمان سجل هدف أتالانتا الأول في شباك ليفركوزن، في الدقيقة 12 من عمر المباراة.

يذكر أن باير ليفركوزن قد تأهل إلى النهائي بعدما فاز على روما الإيطالي بنتيجة 4-2، فيما تأهل أتالانتا بعدما تغلب على مارسيليا الفرنسي، بأربعة أهداف مقابل هدف. هدف لوكمان الثاني في مباراة أتالانتا وباير ليفركوزن

تحدث سفين فان دنبروك المدير الفني السابق لفريق الوداد المغربي، عن مواجهة الزمالك القادمة أمام نهضة بركان، المقرر لها يوم الأحد المقبل في إياب نهائي بطولة كأس الكونفدرالية الإفريقية.

ويستعد الزمالك لمواجهة نهضة بركان، في إطار مواجهة العودة لبطولة كأس الكونفدرالية الإفريقية على أرضية استاد القاهرة الدولي.

وقال سفين فان في تصريحات عبر قناة “الحياة” عن مباراة الزمالك ونهضة بركان: “مباراة صعبة لأن نهضة بركان لديه سجل رائع في بطولة الكونفدرالية، الزمالك أدى بصورة جيدة في المغرب، ولديه فرصة في مباراة العودة، والفرص ستكون متساوية بين الفريقين في القاهرة”.

وواصل: “مباراة العودة على أرضك ووسط جماهيرك ستكون ميزة كبيرة لفريق الزمالك، الجماهير المصرية تعطي دفعة قوية لفرقها، هناك فرصة رائعة للزمالك في المباراة النهائية”.

طالع أيضاً.. مران الزمالك | برنامج تأهيلي واستشفائي للاعبين استعدادا لمواجهة نهضة بركان بالكونفدرالية

وأشار: “أنتظر مشاهدة مباراة العودة بين الزمالك ونهضة بركان”.

وأضاف: “نهضة بركان يمتلك لاعبين مميزين، سيف الدين الجزيري هو اللاعب الذي يمثل خطورة في الزمالك ويمتلك القدرة على حسم المباراة، وكذلك شحاته في وسط الملعب منظم جدا”.

وأوضح: “صعب التكهن بنتيجة مباراة الأهلي والترجي التونسي في نهائي إفريقيا، الأخير فريق رائع خلال السنة الماضية، وحقق مباريات جيدة، ويستطيع الترجي أن يجاري الأهلي، ربما تكون نتيجة اللقاء التعادل السلبي في تونس”.

وتابع: “الأهلي لديه فرصة للفوز بدوري أبطال إفريقيا بنسبة 60 إلى 40%”.

وأردف: “أفضل فريق هو من يصل إلى النهائي، صن داونز من أفضل الفرق في قارة إفريقيا في السنوات الأخيرة، ولكن إن تحدثنا عن النتائج يأتي الأهلي”.

وبسؤاله :”هل تلقيت عروضا من أندية مصرية؟”، أتم قائلاً: “لم أتلقى أي عروض في السابق، ربما منذ عام قبل نهائي دوري الأبطال، تحدثت معي بعض الأندية المصرية ولكن لم نصل إلى الاتفاق، ليس النادي الأهلي ولكن مع أندية أخرى”.

If they had avoided a five-point deduction for a slow overrate at Trent Bridge, Northants would have pipped Notts for promotion. As it was their final victory had a bittersweet taste

Press Association28-Sep-20172:24

Championship round-up: Somerset stay up, but despair for Middlesex

Northamptonshire’s ninth victory of the season, completed with some ease in benign batting conditions at Grace Road, had a bitter-sweet element for the men from Wantage Road.Events at Hove, where Nottinghamshire needed only to draw with Sussex to confirm they would take the second promotion place from Division Two, meant that Northamptonshire finish the season third – and it will be little consolation that no team has made more of its’ collective ability.Northants were left to particularly rue the five-point deduction suffered after defeat at Trent Bridge in late August for a slow over-rate. It was a tough time for Northants in the field as they suffered several injuries, including that of the captain Wakely, with Rory Kleinveldt taking over, and to bowl in stifling conditions on the hottest spell of the season.Without that penalty, however, Northants would have finished level on points with Notts – and ahead of them on wins.As for Leicestershire, they were consigned to a winless season.Northants head coach David Ripley said: “We’ve really played well through the back end of the season, in some adversity, including in this game with losing Rory Kleinveldt.”It is frustrating that nine wins isn’t enough, especially with the points deducted in Nottingham – we deserved the deduction, but the circumstances were extraordinary.”The bowlers did a remarkable job, Richard Gleeson at the end of the season has been outstanding, Ben Sanderson has been Mr Consistency, and Rory Kleinveldt has taken 50 wickets – winning games is about taking 20 wickets, and more often than not we’ve done that.”We’ve got some good players, and they’ve all contributed, but of there’s an area we’re looking to improve it’s in the batting and turning good scores into big, match-winning scores. We’re talking to Luke Procter – we need to recruit someone who can challenge our batters for a spot, and him coming in would do that.”Alex Wakely’s Northants side came so close•Getty Images

Perhaps in sympathy, the conditions were very much in favour of the visitors, as has been the case throughout this game. Batting has been at its most difficult in the first hour or so of the morning, when the ball has swung and seamed, so the fact a saturated outfield outfield prevented play starting until 12.40pm was ideal for Northants, who began the day needing another 180 to win with ten second innings wickets in hand.By the time play began, a bright sun had taken any menace out of the atmosphere and indeed the pitch. Northants did lose Rob Newton, the opener pushing lazily at a wide delivery from left-arm seamer Dieter Klein to edge a catch behind, but Procter and Wakely added 121 for the second wicket in good time and – an early possible run-out of Wakely aside – without real alarm before Wakely top-edged a pull and was well caught by Sam Evans at deep backward square.Two more wickets fell after the break, Richard Levi palpably leg before swishing across the line at Callum Parkinson – the young left-armer very much one of Leicestershire’s few positives this season – and Procter, with a hundred very much on the cards, also leg before to a Raine delivery that kept a little low.Procter, on loan from Lancashire, had a fine match at the top of the order, dismissed only once in making 176 runs.

A radical overhaul of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is set to be presented before the PCB’s governing board despite some resistance to the changes

Umar Farooq27-Jul-2017

A radical overhaul of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament, is set to be presented before the PCB’s governing board on Friday. Though there has been some resistance to the changes, ESPNcricinfo understands that the resolution is likely to win the seven votes that are required for its approval.If approved, it will mean that regional sides in the tournament – such as Karachi or Faisalabad – will be picked via a draft selection, as happens in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and has since also happened in the country’s premier 50-over tournament. News of the change was first revealed by ESPNcricinfo, but more details of the plan have emerged since then. Twelve players from each regional squad will now be allocated through a draft process, and the other eight selected in traditional fashion.A pool of over 140 players for the draft was initially thought to be made up only of players who are part of departmental teams in Grade 2, the level below first-class. But the PCB has since clarified that Grade 2 players from regional teams will also be shortlisted by the national selectors. The inclusion of more regional players in the pool is a key factor in appeasing critics who argue that regional teams will become further emaciated by the change.The rationale behind the plan, officials have said, is to make the tournament more competitive by populating each region with more experienced players. They also say that it aims to end a culture of nepotism hitherto rife in the selection of regional sides. However, the idea still hasn’t convinced two regional representatives of the PCB, Karachi and Rawalpindi. They worry that a draft selection process will obstruct a significant number of players coming through senior inter-district cricket in open trials.”Keeping in view the existing format, which includes eight departmental and eight regional teams in the first-class set-up, we have proposed meritocracy in selection through a player selection process since there were complaints that the regional teams were weak and hardly competed with the stronger departmental sides,” Haroon Rasheed, PCB’s director of cricket affairs, wrote in a blog on the PCB’s official website. Rasheed is one of the driving forces behind the change and the blog is the first time he – or any PCB official – has publicly explained the change.”Grade two players who are playing for departments or regions can be shortlisted by national selectors, and each region’s own selection committee can choose 12 players from the pool announced by selectors, while eight players belonging to the region can be chosen based on the performances in the inter-district tournaments.”Ijaz Faruki, the head of Karachi region, has written a letter questioning the process. Former players such as Javed Miandad and Mohsin Khan have also opposed the process, raising concerns about what this might do to regional associations.”With the draft coming in place, the production of the fresh players coming in the system will be lost with the passage of time,” said one regional head, who is likely to argue against it in the board meeting in Lahore tomorrow. “We have inter-district below grade cricket, and there is a huge number of players stepping up to play first-class cricket every year.”Yes, at an early stage, players are rookies in first-class cricket, but that is what it is all about. Nobody is born a Tendulkar or Younis Khan; they have to get in the system first to be developed, and domestic cricket is a platform where players get experience with time.”Peshawar and Islamabad regions are among those who support the plan, having been part of a working group that created the plan. The four departments, who are neither involved in the debate nor consulted, are not likely to argue against the proposed new system.The PCB has simultaneously also decided to revive a central contract mechanism for regional players. In 2011, the PCB had awarded six-month contracts for all 20-man regional squads. But with a change in administration, the concept was shelved, with regional players getting only match fees and the facility of lodging and boarding during tournaments.But the board will now hand 20 regional players a one-year contract, a stability many of them will not have seen before. “This will enable the PCB to work closely with them, monitor their progress, while the coaching staff can also work on improving their game and fitness throughout the year,” Rasheed wrote. “This example is followed by leading teams, as well as our own departmental sides. This way, we can produce a strong second string that can replace the national players in a state of readiness.”From now on, we have proposed induction of Under-19 players in the first-class system, which wasn’t the case until last domestic season. We want to concentrate on the development of young players and we might even set a quota for under-19 players in each team to ensure that the youngsters rub shoulders with the experienced lot which will help in developing their game.”

OGC Nice are now ready to cash in on midfielder Khephren Thuram this summer, according to Foot Mercato, giving Liverpool unexpected hope in their potential pursuit of the Frenchman. The Reds have already welcomed Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai this summer, as they look to rebuild in the middle of the park.

What's the latest on Liverpool and Khephren Thuram?

At the start of the transfer window, Thuram was very much a name associated with Liverpool's summer plans. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Reds held talks with the Frenchman's agent back in June, but things have since failed to progress.

After welcoming Mac Allister and Szoboszlai, rumours became slightly quieter surrounding Thuram, with reports suggesting the France youth international is ready and expected to stay put for another year in France.

Contrary to those reports though, according to Foot Mercato (via Sport Witness), the Ligue 1 side will now listen to offers of €50m (£43m) this summer, despite the news that Thuram is happy to stay puy.

The news of the potential price-tag could come at the perfect time for Liverpool, who have suddenly been subject to Saudi Arabia's latest pursuit of Europe's elite.

According to David Ornstein of The Athletic, club captain Jordan Henderson is leaning towards accepting Al Ettifaq's offer this summer, which would quadruple his wages, while Fabrizio Romano reports that the Reds have asked for a £10m fee.

Meanwhile, as if Henderson's departure wouldn't provide Jurgen Klopp with enough of a headache, Al-Ittihad are set to make a £40m bid for Fabinho, with things likely to happen quickly, one way or another, according to Ornstein.

Suddenly, the need for another midfielder could become quite the priority at Anfield, potentially opening the door for Thuram once more.

Should Liverpool sign Khephren Thuram?

Before the potential departures of Fabinho and Henderson, there wasn't too great a necessity to sign Thuram, but it could now become a matter of need rather than want.

Attracting plenty of praise, the latest to deliver a verdict on Thuram was journalist Zach Lowy, who said on Twitter: "Khephren Thuram is just the sort of player that Liverpool need to transform their midfield. Elite ball carrier for someone of his size and really effective at winning the ball high up the pitch — perfect signing for Klopp’s side."

If they are indeed left short in midfield, returning for the Frenchman could be smart. At just 22-years-old, too, he represents an option for both the present and the future. Thuram's age may well be seen as a negative by those at Anfield, however. Jurgen Klopp has already welcomed 22-year-old Szoboszlai, and 24-year-old Mac Allister into his midfield. Having a young midfield is ideal, but it also needs to have the balance of experience.

If Liverpool lose Henderson, in particular, they'll need to replace his leadership. And that's something that, at 22, Thuram will not be able to do. Potentially having to replace Fabinho on top of that, Liverpool may be forced into looking at more proven options, given how important the Brazilian has previously been to Klopp's side.

So, as of right now, whilst Liverpool will have the funds to secure a deal if both Fabinho and Henderson depart, they may look towards a more proven and experienced option than Thuram.