Four stars ‘crazy’ for Barcelona tipped to ‘pack their bags’ after being ‘offered’ exit
According to reports, four Liverpool stars have been ‘offered’ to Spanish giants FC Barcelona ‘through their agents’ and could leave this summer.
A summer overhaul is potentially on the cards at Liverpool following Jurgen Klopp’s exit as a few of their players are being linked with moves elsewhere.
It has been suggested that Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold could leave at some point over the next couple of transfer windows as their current contracts are due to expire in 2025.
A deal is already in place for current Feyenoord head coach Arne Slot to succeed Klopp in the summer and he will be up against it as the task of replacing the Liverpool icon will be tough for pretty much every manager in the world.
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Slot’s task will become even more difficult if one or two of Liverpool’s standout performers leave in the summer and according to Spanish outlet Nacional, four Reds players are ‘going like crazy to come to Barcelona’.
Barcelona director Deco is said to be ‘in negotiations with several Liverpool players’ who have been ‘offered’ to the Spanish giants ‘through their agents’.
The report claims ‘several are expected to pack their bags’ and leave this summer and the players in question are apparently Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Kostas Tsimikas and Fabio Carvalho.
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Diaz is reportedly ‘studying the possibility of leaving’ and he’s ‘liked’ by Barcelona but it’s indicated that Liverpool’s high valuation would make a transfer difficult.
It is acknowledged that Nunez is in a similar situation as Liverpool ‘will not settle for a low economic compensation’.
Tsimikas is ‘not being ruled out’ as he could potentially ‘replace’ Alejandro Balde, while Carvalho – an ‘old Barcelona target’ – is described as an ‘interesting reinforcement for the future’ despite him ‘stagnating’ at Liverpool.
Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has warned Slot and Co. that they must get their recruitment right if Salah leaves in the summer for the Saudi Pro League.
“Arne Slot has to be himself and hope he gets the Liverpool of the first seven months of the season and not the one we’ve seen in the last two,” Souness said on William Hill’s Three Up Front podcast.
“The number one thing you have to get right at a football club is recruitment, there’s no doubt about it. If Mohamed Salah does go, they will need to get someone else in who chips in 25 goals a year, because they can’t rely on Darwin Núñez, unfortunately.
“As a Liverpool supporter, just looking at the way Salah has been acting and his body language, his focus hasn’t been there. It makes you question whether there has been a deal done early on in the season, like with Cristiano Ronaldo when he went to Real Madrid. If he does leave it’ll be a major problem.
“Núñez will still be there next season, though, they won’t sell him. He does all of the hard work, running forward selflessly off the ball and closing down, he’s 10/10 with that side of things but, he’s 4/10 in terms of scoring goals. Strikers are the ones that win you games and that’s been the difference between Liverpool being a team that can win games without playing well, to a team that can’t win games.”
More: Liverpool | Arne Slot | Luis Diaz | Darwin Nunez
