Liverpool have been subject to “quadruple” talk for a long time – but now we can finally focus on winning the next part at the weekend! Before then, it’s team news and transfers.
Mane rumours keep coming…and 2 more to ignore
Sadio Mane has been one of the Reds’ best performers of late, plundering a succession of vital goals from centre-forward in another changed role and adding to his tally with the winner at Aston Villa last night.
That has predictably seen him hit the headlines in more ways than one though; while he was linked last week with Bayern, it’s now Barcelona who are reportedly keen.
This rumour comes out of Catalunya, with local media saying the Camp Nou side have asked him both about the possibility of a move this year and an exit next summer on a free, with Mane apparently set to decide based on the outcome of the Champions League final. That sounds rather ridiculous, that an elite athlete might decide to move on or not based on what might yet amount to a penalty shoot-out lottery, though they do further add that he would be “delighted” to represent Barca.
Elsewhere, one to firmly ignore is restarted Kylian Mbappe rumours. As the Haaland deal has shown, we simply won’t get involved at that level of salary and Mbappe’s is set to be even higher – wherever that ends up being. L’Equipe claim the Reds have “entered” the race after keeping tabs throughout, with the fact it’s a free transfer playing into our hands.
Except, when you factor in reports claim he’ll be on €500k a week if he signs a new PSG deal for two years, it’s very definitely not free, is it.
Elsewhere, Italian media say the Divock Origi to AC Milan transfer is being held up because of our involvement in the Champions League final and the fact Milan are about to face a takeover. While that’s reasonable, it’s also pretty easy to rattle off without any actual new update on the Belgian’s future.
Trophies and top talent
- Fabinho has been called up by Brazil for end-of-season internationals and they are “optimistic” he’ll be fit for them…and the Champions League final beforehand. No detail yet on his fitness for the FA Cup final or indeed our remaining Premier League clashes, though
- Jordan Henderson is keeping it simple: he just wants the Reds to “keep pushing” and make sure we win “as many games as possible”, with the tally of trophies that will yield taking care of itself accordingly
- Jurgen Klopp has explained why there’s no concern over Andy Robertson’s absence from the squad against Villa, while also holding off blaming anybody for the Reds’ crazy fixture congestion – after all, it’s our own fault for winning too many games!
Latest Liverpool FC news
- UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin says it’s absolutely not UEFA’s fault that the tickets for the final of the UEFA competition that UEFA dished out and UEFA sort the allocation of are not to supporters’ liking
- The Reds’ captain and manager have both been effusive in their praise of Tuesday’s night’s match-winner, with Sadio hailed as a “machine” after keeping our title bid alive
- And while U23 forward Max Woltman has become the second youngster to sign a contract extension this summer, Sheyi Ojo will be leaving on a free and loan club Millwall have opted not to sign him in the summer
Latest Premier League chat
- Steven Gerrard was pretty happy after being told Jon Moss is retiring, though seemed surprised to hear it’s at the end of the season not at the end of April after his shambolic handling of last night’s game
- Christopher Nkunku is again topping the targets lists of a bunch of clubs who generate clicks and have plenty of pounds to spend – no correlation there, we’re sure
- And both Man United and Newcastle will fight it out to sign Victor Osimhen from Napoli this summer no matter the price tag. Is that how far United have fallen, or how high the Magpies are aiming? Hard to be sure on this one but we’re sure he can’t wait to play in the Europa Conference League anyway
Tweet of the day and match of the night
We officially declare French “fan/media vibe” to be absolute confirmation and we’re off to buy our Tchoua replicas.
I don't post this kind of stuff usually, but as I live in France, I thought the view from here might be of interest to Reds fans. The media/fan vibe here is that Aurelien Tchouameni has agreed in principle to join Liverpool. He has supposedly had glowing reports from Konaté.
— Dr Jan Gorski-Mescir #FBPE ?????????? (@jans_red) May 11, 2022
Tonight’s game is either the Coppa Italia final, Juve vs Inter, or Leeds vs Chelsea in what will hopefully be a knackering, draining and ultimately deflating pre-FA Cup final encounter for the visitors. And either way, we’ll be praying to all the Portuguese gods that are or ever were that Jose Sa has a worldie and Ruben Neves lashes one in.
