Liverpool could be left in a ‘Catch-22 situation’ with one current player for whom they may have to reluctantly consider accepting any ‘big offers’.
There has been growing speculation over the future of Alisson Becker, with Fabrizio Romano reporting of strong interest from Juventus and the trusted Paul Joyce writing that ‘there is renewed doubt‘ as to how much longer the 33-year-old will remain at Anfield.
The goalkeeper had a one-year option on his contract triggered in March, thus extending his deal to June of next year, but his recurring injury problems might factor into FSG’s thinking if the Serie A outfit were to submit an attractive proposal this summer.
Speaking on the Transfer Insider podcast for Football Insider, Pete O’Rourke claimed that Liverpool could soon potentially find themselves with a tough decision to make regarding their number 1.
He said: “There’s obviously a lot of speculation coming out of Italy that Juventus are very keen on signing Alisson, as well as some other Serie A clubs.
“I think Liverpool find themselves in a bit of a Catch-22 situation at the minute. Obviously, they don’t really want to sell Alisson, but he’s only got one year left on his contract after they activated that extension option earlier this year.
“He’s obviously had a lot of injury problems as well over the last few seasons, but when he is fit, he is still one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
“If a big offer comes in from a Juventus or somebody else, it’s something that Liverpool might consider to help balance the books and help boost their own transfer plans in that respect.”
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The pragmatic view – and it’s one that FSG might well take – is that Alisson will be 34 in October, has one year remaining on his contract, has had more than his fair share of injury problems and is one of the squad’s higher earners on £150,000 per week (Capology), so a ‘big offer’ could be very difficult to turn down.
It was in anticipation of his eventual departure that Liverpool made the future-proofing acquisition of Giorgi Mamardashvili as his long-term successor, and the cold reality of football is that every player ultimately moves on and the squad is refreshed again.
However, it’s understandably difficult for fans to view it through that prism when they’ve become accustomed to having a consistently world-class goalkeeper in their team for nearly a decade, and losing him in the same summer as Mo Salah and Andy Robertson would amplify the leadership drain from within the dressing room.
Juventus aren’t naive; they’ll recognise Alisson’s contract situation at Anfield and feel confident that a lucrative offer might just convince FSG to do business with them.
It’s tough decisions such as these that the LFC hierarchy are handsomely reimburshed to make. It’s not implausible that our number 1 could be sold in the summer, but we’re obviously hoping that isn’t the case and we get to see another year of him for the Reds.
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Balancing the books, FSGs favourite word’s. Did the same with Diaz because he was 29. And look how that turned out. Alisson shouldn’t be sold until there’s a quality replacement at the club.
What we are now seeing is Liverpool football club slowly being downgraded with quality players leaving ad FSG only interested in making more profit.
Alisson, Robertson, salah and va dijk next season. Where are the quality players to replace them. Got no chance of winning anything next season with the current squad.
Age at 34 isn’t old anymore . Look at James Millner. Still power in those legs and bet if he had played in last year’s CL game v PSG he’d have scored in the Anfield shootout. Modern medicine and nutrition, together with conditioning and recovery science, adds a decade to players. They don’t train in the pub anymore, and even when they did, some phenomenal athletes with knocky knees were still world class and freaks of nature like Paul McGrath.
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