Following reports Liverpool are preparing to offload as many as seven players this summer, we ask who should Jurgen Klopp keep at Anfield next season and who should he let go?
The Liverpool manager is willing to allow Danny Ings, Divock Origi, Marko Grujic, Sheyi Ojo, Lazar Markovic, Simon Mignolet and Pedro Chirivella all leave the club before the transfer window closes, according to reports in the Liverpool Echo. So far this summer Klopp has splashed out £176.95m on five new recruits, including £67m on Alison – a world-record fee for a goalkeeper.
Some of that heft outlay on transfers could be offset by income recouped from player sales though, but which of those seven players should Klopp stick with and which should the German allow to leave? You decide…
Danny Ings
Goals: 3
Most likely next destination: Southampton .Ravaged by injury since joining the club three years ago, including two serious knee injuries, the striker now wants to leave in search of more game time. But while Klopp is keen to keep the player, he now looks set for Southampton after not travelling with the squad on their summer tour of the US.
Divock Origi
Goals: 12
Most likely next destination: Valencia. Signed after an impressive showing for Belgium at the 2014 World Cup, the pacy forward has never truly convinced in attack at Anfield. After initially being loaned straight back to Lille, he then scored 21 times in his first two campaigns at the club. But a disappointing season-long loan at Wolfsburg in 2017/18 means the 23-year-old is now surplus to requirements.
Marko Grujic
Goals: 0
Most likely next destination: Cardiff City (Sky Bet odds: 8/13) Not one league start in two years, during which time the midfielder has been loaned back to Red Star Belgrade, as well as Cardiff, tells its own story really. Lazio are reportedly keen to sign the Serb, who the Reds value at £20m. Meanwhile, Klopp wants his player to sign a new deal and then go back out on loan again next season, preferably with the Bluebirds again.
Sheyi Ojo
Goals: 0
Most likely next destination: Fulham .Liverpool saw off a number of rivals, including Chelsea, to sign the promising youngster in 2011. However, after making his top-flight debut in March 206, the England U21 international has only gone on to make seven more league appearances for the Reds. The player has also been loaned out to Wigan, Wolves and Fulham and if no buyer can be found this summer, then Klopp is understood to favour another season on loan for the winger.
Lazar Markovic
Goals: 2
Most likely next destination: Anderlecht, Leganes or Getafe .Arrived with great fanfare for £20m in the summer of 2014, financed by the money generated from Luis Suarez’s sale to Barcelona, but the Serb’s time at Anfield has since been a disaster. In fact, the wide man has started just 11 league matches in the intervening four-year period, during which time he has been loaned to Fenerbahce, Sporting, Hull and Anderlecht, and he could now join the Belgian club permanently next season.
Simon Mignolet
Goals conceded: 189
Most likely next destination: Fulham
After 155 top-flight appearances for Liverpool in the last five years, the ‘keeper’s future on Merseyside now looks bleak after the club signed Brazil No 1 Alisson from Roma last week. The 30-year-old had already lost his first-team place to Loris Karius in January and is sure to end his Reds career this summer, with Fulham reportedly pondering a move for the Belgian.
Pedro Chirivella
Goals: 0
Most likely next destination: Nottingham Forest or Swansea City. Made his solitary league start for the club against Swansea in May 2016, before joining Eredivisie club Go Ahead Eagles on a six-month loan deal in January 2017. However, with both Forest and Swansea currently interested in the Spain defensive midfielder, say reports, the 21-year-old may have played his last game for the club.