Liverpool could be set to lose yet another defender without receiving a transfer fee.
Following the end of the 2025/26 season, Andy Robertson, Rhys Williams and Ibrahima Konate are all leaving Anfield once their contracts expire, with the latter unable to agree a new deal despite months of ultimately futile negotiations.
The defensive exodus is set to continue, with reports on Monday indicating another impending departure from the Merseyside club.
As reported by Simon Jones for the Daily Mail, Liverpool centre-back Carter Pinnington is on the cusp of signing for West Bromwich Albion.
The 19-year-old will be allowed to leave Anfield without the Reds receiving a transfer fee, although it’s understood that the deal will be structured with appearance-based add-ons and will also include a sell-on clause.
Crystal Palace had also been eager to snap up the teenage centre-back, but he instead seems destined for The Hawthorns.
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Pinnington is set to leave Liverpool without making an official senior appearance, coming the closest to doing so when he was an unused substitute in the Carabao Cup defeat to the Eagles last October (Transfermarkt).
He was called into the Europa League squad during the 2023/24 season, signing his first professional contract towards the end of that campaign, but a first-team debut remained elusive.
The Reds have signed several young centre-backs over the past year, including Jeremy Jacquet and Mor Talla Ndiaye, so it already seemed apparent that the Wirral native would realistically struggle to break into the senior setup in the foreseeable future.
That Pinnington is set to depart without Liverpool receiving a transfer fee seems curious, and the optics aren’t especially great when we’re already losing other defenders without recouping anything for them.
However, the rumoured inclusion of a sell-on clause could reap benefits for the Merseyside club in the coming years, if the youngster goes on to excel at West Brom and subsequently command a tidy fee from a future transfer.
In the likely event that this move goes through, we wish the 19-year-old all the best at The Hawthorns, and we hope he goes on to have a prosperous and fulfilling career.
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