LIVERPOOL are facing a seismic summer exodus – whatever happens in the remaining weeks of the season.
The Reds are still odds-on favourites to welcome the Premier League title back to Anfield, but within weeks could also wave goodbye to up to a whole team’s worth of players in the busiest and most important transfer window in recent club history.
The future of Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil Van Dijk, the out-of-contract big three, has been a sub-plot for the whole of Arne Slot’s debut campaign.
And it is no longer unthinkable that all three will leave and be followed out of the Anfield exit door by a number of others.
Kop boss Slot and Anfield chiefs are also on alert as European rivals circle around first-teamers like Ibrahima Konate and Luis Diaz.
Then there are bit-part players like back-up goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, Harvey Elliott and Joe Gomez who want regular football.
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And even if the Reds would welcome offers for underperforming stars such as Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, they would still need to find high-quality replacements to give Slot the chance to maintain momentum.
Despite Liverpool’s Champions League exit and defeat in the Carabao Cup Final, the Dutchman’s season will be judged a huge success if he delivers the Premier League crown that would put the club level with Manchester United
But Slot has relied on the core of players who revived the Reds under Jurgen Klopp.
If this is to be the start of a glorious new era at Anfield, Slot will need chief executive of football Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes to deliver a new-look squad that is fit for purpose.
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MOHAMED SALAH
Whether the Egyptian King opted to join a European rival like Inter Milan or to take the money from Saudi Arabia, he would be absolutely irreplaceable.
With 27 goals and 17 assists, Salah has been involved in 63.7 per cent of Liverpool’s Premier League goals this season.
There is no like-for-like option to step into the shoes of the third highest scorer in club history and a legend of English and world football.
The Reds pulled a rabbit out of the hat when they signed Kenny Dalglish to succeed Kevin Keegan as their main man in 1977. This is a bigger task.
TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD
Most Liverpool fans accept that “the Scouser in our team” is going to Real Madrid to join new bestie Jude Bellingham.
Supporters also know that recruiting a right back with the same passing range and potency going forward will be impossible. There is a reason why TAA is the most prolific assist provider from his position in Premier League history, with 62 at the age of only 25.
The trick will be finding someone who can defend better yet still deliver enough at the other end of the field to give some compensation for his absence. Good luck.
VIRGIL VAN DIJK
The accepted wisdom on Merseyside remains that captain Van Dijk is the one of the big three who will sign a new deal to keep him at Anfield.
The man himself, though, has given that opinion little support in recent weeks, as rumours of interest from Real Madrid, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere re-emerge, die down and then return.
But for Salah’s incredible numbers, the Dutchman would be a leading candidate for player of the year. He is generally regarded as one of the best central defenders to play in England in recent decades.
Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen are among those touted as successors. Neither is currently at the same level. But then again, who is?
IBRAHIMA KONATE
Apart from the defeats by Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle, the most alarming and unexpected development of recent weeks has been the emergence of doubt about the future of Van Dijk’s centre back partner.
You could dismiss talk that the France international would welcome a summer battle for his signature as mischief-making by the clubs with their friends in the local media or the product of a slow news day. But it may well not be.
Konate’s susceptibility to injury has been an issue in the past but the Reds could ill afford to lose him, regardless of what happens with Van Dijk.
LUIS DIAZ
The links between Diaz and Barcelona are as long-standing as the La Liga giants’ financial problems that make any such deal challenging.
Yet amid talk of a busy summer at the Camp Nou, with Barca allegedly willing to cash in on bankable stars like Frenkie De Jong and Raphinha, Diaz will be on their radar.
Liverpool would not necessarily be averse to selling the Colombian after he failed to maintain his early season form and Cody Gakpo became first-choice on the left flank.
Yet Slot would want someone of high calibre and/or versatility to push Gakpo and whatever other forwards he has after the summer.
DARWIN NUNEZ
Captain Chaos’ time at Anfield is surely up after another season of occasional highs but even bigger lows.
Liverpool are said to have turned down a bid of £62m plus add-ons from Al-Nassr in January only because they did not have enough time to find a suitable replacement for the Uruguayan.
Al-Nassr signed Jhon Duran from Aston Villa instead, but other Saudi clubs remain keen on the Reds’ No 9.
Rumours about Atletico Madrid won’t go away, either. Whatever fee Liverpool are able to get for Nunez will need to be re-invested more wisely than the initial £64m they spent on him three years ago.
CAOIMHIN KELLEHER
Enough is surely enough for the goalkeeper who is the Republic of Ireland’s No 1 yet deserves to be first choice for a club, too.
That’s not going to happen at Liverpool, with Georgian stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili due to arrive this summer to push Alisson for his place and, if all goes well, take it in the not-too-distant future.
The Reds have turned down bids from Nottingham Forest and others in recent transfer windows and Kelleher filled in well for Alisson while the Brazilian was injured earlier in the season.
But with Bournemouth now joining the ranks of clubs ready to give the Irishman his big chance, he will surely be on his way in the summer.
HARVEY ELLIOTT
Brighton and Borussia Dortmund were among the clubs who were reported to be looking at a move for Elliott in January.
The player himself was quick to play down talk of a winter move, stressing that he had had talks with Slot about his lack of game time and understood how hard it was to break into a team that was doing so well.
Yet Elliott’s resolve to stay – and the Reds’ determination to keep him – would be tested by sizeable summer offers for a player with just over two years left on his contract.
The attacking midfielder/forward – and doubt about his most effective position is a factor – has made just 21 appearances this season, compared to 53 in Klopp’s final campaign, with not a single start in the Premier League.
JOE GOMEZ
Gomez has gone from being a key player in Klopp’s farewell season to an outsider under Slot, although he seemed to be returning to favour before a hamstring injury sidelined him.
The Reds allegedly included Gomez as a makeweight in the proposed deal to sign Anthony Gordon from Newcastle last year.
Eddie Howe will not be the only manager interested in Gomez this summer. Aston Villa, Chelsea and Fulham have all been linked with him, along with clubs in Europe.
A move back to London for the former Charlton Academy star, after 10 years at Anfield, looks a good bet. The Reds would want a replacement who matched his versatility but not his injury record.
WATARU ENDO
Fulham, AC Milan and even Barcelona are just some of the club believed to have an interest in the defensive midfielder, who arrived for a cut-price £16m in the summer of 2023.
The Japan captain has become a cult hero at Anfield because of his no-nonsense style and cameo roles in closing out games for Slot’s side.
Yet sentimentality will count for little if the Reds could recoup a decent amount of their initial outlay and put it towards securing someone who might put more pressure on Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister for a starting place.
DIOGO JOTA
As the Kop song goes, the man from Portugal wears the No 20 but if Liverpool win title No 20, his contribution will not have been significant.
Jota’s injury issues have been glossed over in the past because of his tendency to have scoring streaks at important times.
But like Nunez, the 28 year old has not done enough this season to share the burden of scoring with the incredible Salah.
Despite that and his physical frailty, a number of clubs at home and abroad would be prepared to offer Jota a chance to make a new start, perhaps including former employers Wolves.
FEDERIO CHIESA
Serie A title rivals Inter Milan and Napoli were both interested in bringing Chiesa back to Italy on loan in January, after his injury-affected lack of game time at Anfield
Until what was only a consolation goal in the Carabao Cup final, Chiesa’s most memorable contribution to the season was his manic celebration of Nunez’s late goals at Brentford.
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The potential departure of other forward options might make it worth Liverpool’s while to give the Euro 2020 winner another season to prove his worth.
But after spending only an initial £10m on the Italy international, the chance to recoup that cash or even make a profit would also be tempting, probably for the player, too.
