No matter which way you look at it, the 2022/23 campaign was poor by Liverpool’s recent standards, and something was always going to have to change after it had come to an end.
If it wasn’t going to be the manager, and let’s face it neither he nor the club themselves have ever come close to even hinting his time at Anfield was up, then it was going to be players that carried the can.
Some have left because they’re at the end of their contracts and are looking for other experiences in their playing career, others simply haven’t been good enough.
It’s all well and good dispensing with those that have become surplus to requirements, but they have to be replaced.
In order to improve on those departing serious money arguably has to be spent, but as the Liverpool board have shown with the Jude Bellingham situation, they won’t be held to ransom for any player.
Para que quede claro : en ningún momento pidé para salir por lo tanto no me voy a ir a ningún lado.
— Jules Kounde (@jkeey4) May 25, 2023
Although Barcelona’s Jules Kounde has recently tweeted that he hasn’t asked to leave the club, it’s believed that he prefers to play in the centre of defence rather than as a right-back, which is where Xavi has stationed him for much of the 2022/23 campaign.
According to Mirror Sport, Liverpool are looking to take advantage of the situation if the player remains unsettled and notwithstanding his own protestations.
Depending on how Barcelona’s own Financial Fair Play issues pan out over the next few weeks, it’s a deal that may have to be made regardless, in order to satisfy La Liga.