How will Liverpool line up next season?

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 12 Feb 2023 12:25 GMT
• 5 min read

Mo Salah gone, Jude Bellingham in? Liverpool are expected to have a squad overhaul next summer after a disastrous campaign under Jurgen Klopp. How might the Reds line up next term?

Liverpool are enduring their worst season under Klopp to date, and sit 10th in the Premier League after 20 games played with just 29 points to their name - 22 fewer than league leaders Arsenal.

Despite that, Klopp's job as manager would appear to be safe. The German has led Liverpool to Premier League and Champions League glory in his seven years at the club, and was runner-up in both competitions last season.

READ: EXCLUSIVE: Man Utd and Liverpool to battle over Paul Mitchell

He seems likely to stay for a rebuild, but the same can't be said for some of his previous star performers, with Salah's and Jordan Henderson's heads potentially on the chopping block.

Salah is a Liverpool legend, make no mistake - one who has scored 173 goals in 285 games from the wing since his 2017 arrival from Roma - but he was spotted having dinner with Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi in London in January and this could be the Reds' last chance to cash in on their Egyptian king, who has now passed 30 years of age.

Valued at €68.2 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, Salah's sale could help fund an overhaul.

His most likely replacement on the right of Liverpool's attack is Eintracht Frankfurt man Jesper Lindstrom. The Dane is beginning to outgrow his surroundings in the Bundesliga and has been linked with a host of top European clubs, but he declared recently "I've always said that I'm a Liverpool fan, so it could be really cool to play for Liverpool at some point."

He would likely find Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz for company in the final third next summer. Big money was spent on the former - Benfica could receive a total of €100m from last summer's deal - and he has eight years on Salah's long-time partner in crime, Bobby Firmino.

Liverpool after a rebuild?

Diaz has been sidelined with a knee injury, but he can be confident of reclaiming his place on the left of Liverpool's attack with Cody Gakpo yet to score or assist since his winter arrival from PSV Eindhoven and Sadio Mane a season into his Bayern Munich career come next summer.

READ: Carragher admits he is 'baffled' by Liverpool signing

Bellingham remains Liverpool's primary transfer target, meanwhile, one of the first names on Gareth Southgate's England teamsheet who has already led Borussia Dortmund out in the Champions League at the tender age of 19.

The Reds face fierce competition from Real Madrid and Manchester City for the midfielder's signature, and failure to qualify for next season's Champions League won't help them, but his father Mark was nonetheless reportedly in talks with the Reds this winter.

While Fabinho remains a more than able midfield anchor, Liverpool are looking for a younger player in the position, with Nice's Kephren Thuram and Manu Kone of Borussia Monchengladbach top of their shopping list in that role.

At the back, less change might be expected. In Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool boast one of the most talented defensive units in world football, even if their form, particularly Trent's, has let them down this season. But they will be given the chance to prove this season was a blip.

A central-defensive reinforcement could be needed, though, with Joel Matip and Joe Gomez unable to scale Van Dijk's heights in the position. Ibrahima Konate has a high ceiling but is injury-prone, and a move for Benfica youngster Antonio Silva seems likely.

The Reds just need to be careful how much they pay for the 19-year-old, the Portuguese outfit have a recent track record of securing astronomical sums for their players, as the Darwin transfer attests.