{"id":660930,"date":"2025-12-29T19:57:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T19:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/660930\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T19:57:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T19:57:15","slug":"5-liverpool-january-transfer-wishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/660930\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Liverpool January Transfer Wishes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liverpool were record-breakingly busy in the summer transfer window, but with January approaching the ailing Premier League<\/a> champions have more priorities to address.<\/b> <\/p>\n

Despite their remarkable \u00a3446.2 million summer spend, Liverpool are in a worse position than this time last year.<\/p>\n

Therefore, with the transfer window reopening on January 1 it is not wrong to suggest that there is cause for another busy month for Richard Hughes<\/a> and his recruitment team.<\/p>\n

Liverpool\u2019s January Wishlist: At a Glance<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2022 The Salah stance:<\/b> Putting the Saudi noise to bed and securing his future<\/p>\n

\u2022 The defensive fix:<\/b> Why Marc Guehi<\/b> is No. 1 target \u2013 and Ligue 1 talent the perfect fallback<\/p>\n

\u2022 The loan reset:<\/b> Resolving Harvey Elliott<\/a><\/b>\u2018s \u201cuntenable\u201d situation and finding the right senior path for Trey Nyoni<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2022 Semenyo alternative:<\/b> Why Liverpool must sign another attacker if Antoine Semenyo<\/b> chooses Man City<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 The contract priority:<\/b> Avoiding another \u2018Trent saga\u2019 with Ibrahima Konate<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Here are five things we want to see from Liverpool in the January transfer window, including a decision on Mohamed Salah<\/a>\u2018s future.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Put the Saudi rumours to bed and keep Mo Salah<\/p>\n

\"LIVERPOOL,<\/p>\n

Salah\u2019s situation was resolved to an extent before he departed for the Africa Cup of Nations: an impressive comeback against Brighton<\/a> saw the return of an elite-level professional.<\/p>\n

But it will no doubt be revisited upon the Egyptian\u2019s return from the mid-season tournament, as word is his rift with Slot is not exactly repaired.<\/p>\n

Liverpool are insistent they do not wish to lose Salah in January, but a transfer cannot be ruled out if he remains frustrated and the riches of Saudi Arabia loom.<\/p>\n

The prospect of one of the club\u2019s best-ever players leaving under a winter cloud is unacceptable, and above any need for signings, ensuring Salah\u2019s commitment at least until the end of the season is essential.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Solve the centre-back issue: Sign Guehi or a smart fallback<\/p>\n

\"Marc<\/p>\n

With Giovanni Leoni<\/a> ruled out for the rest of the season and Joe Gomez<\/a> almost exclusively required at right-back when fit himself, the load on Virgil van Dijk<\/a> and Ibrahima Konate<\/a> has been relentless.<\/p>\n

That was not the plan, of course, with Liverpool having come as close as you can to signing Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace<\/a> on deadline day.<\/p>\n

Palace chairman Steve Parish\u2019s U-turn was devastating, but it did underline the risk taken when delaying any deal for the England centre-back until the very end of the transfer window.<\/p>\n

Put simply, Liverpool need to sign a new centre-back \u2013 and Guehi remains the No. 1 target.<\/p>\n

Much will depend on whether Palace are willing to do business in January \u2013 knowing they will lose their captain and most valuable player on a free at the end of the season if they don\u2019t \u2013 but Liverpool may need to pivot if not.<\/p>\n

Given at least two centre-backs are required in the long term (more on that later), a move for a secondary target such as Rennes youngster Jeremy Jacquet would be an ideal fallback.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sort out the loans: Bring Elliott back and find a home for Nyoni<\/p>\n

\"LIVERPOOL,<\/p>\n

Five appearances short of triggering his \u00a335 million permanent move and with seemingly no chance of meeting that target, Harvey Elliott<\/a>\u2018s situation at Aston Villa<\/a> is untenable.<\/p>\n

It is hard to argue with his standing in their squad, either, given Villa\u2019s remarkable fortunes under Unai Emery this season.<\/p>\n

But given Liverpool are light of options in midfield and out wide, Elliott returning to Anfield could be an ideal solution.<\/p>\n

Liverpool may argue otherwise when it comes to business sense, having viewed their deal with Villa as an all-but-guaranteed sale.<\/p>\n

\"3CKWMCR<\/p>\n

Elliott\u2019s is not the only loan that will need to be assessed in January, with Kostas Tsimikas<\/a><\/b> (Roma), James McConnell<\/a><\/b> (Ajax) and Lewis Koumas<\/a><\/b> (Birmingham) all struggling for game time and potentially returning early.<\/p>\n

There are others currently at Liverpool who would benefit from a mid-season loan, namely Trey Nyoni<\/a>, who trains with the first team regularly but barely features and is in need of starting football at senior level.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sign an alternative if Semenyo joins Man City<\/p>\n

\"LIVERPOOL,<\/p>\n

While signing a centre-back is a priority in terms of incomings, injury to Alexander Isak<\/a> has magnified the need for another versatile forward \u2013 also with an eye on future-proofing for life after Salah.<\/p>\n

The primary candidate in that respect was Bournemouth<\/a>\u2018s Antoine Semenyo, but he now appears set on joining Man City<\/a> in a deal worth \u00a365 million.<\/p>\n

Clearly, Liverpool had other plans, and the hope is that those include signing an alternative, unless reports<\/a> speculating Liverpool could yet hijack the move come to fruition.<\/p>\n

Paris Saint-Germain\u2019s Bradley Barcola, Real Madrid<\/a>\u2018s Rodrygo and Dortmund\u2019s Karim Adeyemi have all been touted as options and Liverpool are known to have long-standing interest in all three.<\/p>\n

Given Cody Gakpo<\/a> is the de facto first choice on the left \u2013 with Rio Ngumoha<\/a> too young to play consistently at the top level \u2013 signing a player like Barcola in January could provide much-needed competition and more end product.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tie down Ibrahima Konate and avoid another contract saga<\/p>\n

\"LIVERPOOL,<\/p>\n

The centre-back issue has been magnified by the knowledge that Konate is yet to sign a new contract and, while often underperforming, could be planning to leave on a free transfer in the summer.<\/p>\n

Liverpool have presented the Frenchman\u2019s representatives with an offer but as of yet there has been no resolution to ongoing talks.<\/p>\n

With Konate able to formally speak to clubs outside of England from January 1, it could provide a timely juncture when it comes to determining his future.<\/p>\n

The club will have wanted to avoid another prolonged contract saga, but that is the situation they are in.<\/p>\n

It was only in April when Van Dijk and Salah signed their latest deals, while Trent Alexander-Arnold<\/a>\u2018s decision to leave was announced in May, but January should prompt closure when it comes to Konate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool were record-breakingly busy in the summer transfer window, but with January approaching the ailing Premier League champions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[16239,748,393,4884,179,2697,1128,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-660930","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-antoine-semenyo","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-marc-guehi","14":"tag-mohamed-salah","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115804625150847566","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}