Here is all the latest Liverpool news from Sunday 8 September. One Liverpool star is pushing for a Liverpool recall, Klopp has made his return to management and Trent proved himself for England.
Salah wanted by two European giants
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has less than a year left on his contract at Anfield – unsurprisingly, that means he’s attracting interest from elsewhere.
The Reds winger signed a three-year extension to his deal in the summer of 2022, but that deal is set to expire in June 2025, with no clear indication yet on whether he’ll be staying or leaving.
Salah is now 32, and despite the continuation of his incredible performances for the club, Liverpool are deciding whether a new long-term deal is a financial risk worth taking.
The star was the subject of major interest from Saudi Arabia last summer, with Al-Ittihad seeing a big-money bid rejected. But Salah is reported to be wary of moving to the Middle East, after seeing the declining reputation of his former Anfield team-mate Sadio Mane since heading to Saudi Arabia.
Konate given brutal rating after disappointing performance
Luis Diaz, Alexis Mac Allister and Wataru Endo have scored for their countries in recent days, but the international break hasn’t gone well for every Liverpool player so far.
Nottingham Forest v Liverpool – Premier League – The City Ground Liverpool s Ibrahima Konate ahead of the Premier League match at The City Ground, Nottingham. Picture date: Saturday March 2, 2024. EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or live services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUKxIRL Copyright: xMikexEgertonx 75504112
Centre-back Ibrahima Konate has returned to the Liverpool team in the two most recent Premier League games, after largely being a substitute in the latter days of Jurgen Klopp’s reign, then being named on the bench again for Arne Slot’s first match in charge at Ipswich Town.
The Liverpool defender was an unused substitute for all six of France’s matches at Euro 2024, with Dayot Upamecano preferred in the centre of defence alongside Arsenal’s William Saliba.
Les Bleus then took the lead within a minute, but ultimately succumbed to a surprise 3-1 defeat, with suggestions that Konate might have done better for two of the goals.
Mamardashvili leaps into crowd following dramatic match
Georgia’s qualification for the Euros thanks to a play-off win over Greece denied Liverpool defender Kostas Tsimikas a place at the tournament, but was a fairytale story for the former Soviet nation.
Giorgi Mamardashvili of Georgia after the UEFA Nations League match between Georgia and Czech Republic at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium on September 7, 2024 in Tbilisi, Georgia. Tbilisi Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Ilia Chavchavadze Avenue, Zemo Vake, Vake, Vake District, Tbilisi, 1062, Georgia Georgia Copyright: xArturxStabulnieksx 688269
The Caucasus country reached those play-offs as a result of their performance in the previous edition of the Nations League, so it’s understandable that they were taking the competition seriously when it returned again this week.
Georgia hosted Czech Republic in their opening game in Tbilisi, in a Nations League group that also contains Ukraine and Albania. The group winners will have a great chance of going into the play-offs for a place at the 2026 World Cup.
Mamardashvili’s nation wouldn’t necessarily be favourites to win the group, but they got off to a fantastic start – after the goalkeeper made a key early save, Georgia impressively triumphed 4-1.
Quansah pushing for starting XI recall
Jarell Quansah started the last four matches of the Jurgen Klopp era, after breaking into the first team last season following a loan spell at Bristol Rovers.
Tipped for a big future, the centre-back received a confidence boost when he was named in Liverpool’s starting line-up for the opening game of the Premier League season at Ipswich Town, for Arne Slot’s first game in charge.
But with the match goalless at the interval, Quansah was substituted at half-time – after Liverpool went on to win 2-0, Ibrahima Konate was preferred in the starting line-up for victories over Brentford and Manchester United.
Quansah was not named in Lee Carsley’s first squad as interim manager of the England senior side, instead returning to the under 21s, who he’d previously represented under Carsley on four occasions last season, in qualifying for the 2025 UEFA U21 Championship.
All of those matches were resounding victories – 9-1 over Serbia, 3-0 in the return match against the same opposition, 3-0 against Northern Ireland, then 7-0 against Luxembourg. Indeed, as Quansah only came on as a substitute against Serbia, he was yet to concede a goal while on the pitch for the under 21s.
Klopp makes Dortmund return
It’s nine years since Jurgen Klopp left Borussia Dortmund to join Liverpool, but the German has made a surprise comeback at the Westfalenstadion.
His glorious reign will never be forgotten by Reds fans, after he returned the club to the summit of European football, winning the Champions League in 2019, and secured Liverpool’s first domestic league title for 30 years.
Klopp declared that he was ready for a break from football when he left Anfield, admitting that he felt jaded after the exertions of managing such a giant club.
This weekend though, he made his surprise return, for one game only.
Borussia Dortmund were celebrating the careers of Lukasz Piszczek and Jakub Blaszczykowski with a farewell game at their home ground.
The Polish pair were part of the club’s back-to-back Bundesliga winning teams in 2011 and 2012, managed by Klopp back then, and several BVB legends were returning to honour them.
Barnes compares Gravenberch to Pirlo
Ryan Gravenberch has enjoyed an impressive beginning to life under Arne Slot at Liverpool, and the 22-year-old now looks comfortable in the starting XI.
The Dutch midfielder was Jurgen Klopp’s final Liverpool signing but he only started 12 of the Reds’ 38 Premier League games last season and only completed the full 90 minutes on a single occasion.
Things have been very different for Gravenberch under new head coach Arne Slot. He has been a key figure in Liverpool’s perfect start to the Premier League, playing 90 minutes in all three league games so far this season and he has been rewarded with a recall to the Dutch national team‘s starting line-up.
Gravenberch played the full 90 minutes of the Netherlands’ 5-2 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday night, and he is establishing himself as a must-start player for both club and country.
The young midfielder’s performances haven’t gone unnoticed and legendary Liverpool winger John Barnes has now weighed in on Gravenberch’s position in Slot’s new Liverpool side.
Liverpool back in for two defenders
The transfer window has only just closed, but Liverpool may already be on the hunt to bolster their defensive line.
That might seem surprising, given that the Reds have won their opening three matches of the Premier League season, without conceding a single goal, to sit joint top of the table.
But key centre-back Virgil van Dijk, who made his 200th Premier League appearance in the 3-0 win at Manchester United, is out of contract at the end of the season.
It remains unclear whether his deal will be extended to remain with the club, given that the Dutchman is now 33 years old.
The Reds were linked with several defenders during the summer, and reports are now suggesting that boss Arne Slot is continuing a pursuit of two of them.
Alexander-Arnold starts to rebuild his England reputation
Trent Alexander-Arnold has emerged from the first game of the UEFA Nations League window as England’s first-choice right back.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
It took the Liverpool man four years to get another chance to start a game for his country in his best position.
With Kieran Trippier retired from the international game, Kyle Walker a 34-year-old fading force and Reece James dealing with another injury, suddenly it feels that the Three Lions’ much-vaunted depth in the right-back position has vanished overnight, belatedly leaving Trent in possession of the shirt.
There’s no question he’s earned it but it felt like it would take a clearout of Walker and Trippier before Trent finally got his opportunity to nail down his place in the team.
It’s happened in the new, albeit temporary, Lee Carsley era, with the former Ireland international tapping into Alexander-Arnold’s best characteristics.
Mac Allister fitness latest
The Liverpool no.10 arrived on international duty with a ‘muscle overload’ but participated and even scored in Argentina‘s 3-0 victory over Chile. Nonetheless, he was forced off the field in the 78th minute and looked in discomfort as he took his place on the substitute bench.
Alexis Mac Allister, Liverpool and Argentina
Shortly after the game, it was revealed that Mac Allister was again struggling with muscle issues and he was unable to participate in Argentina’s subsequent training sessions.
The Argentina manager held a press conference on Sunday afternoon before his side jetted off to Colombia, where they will face Luis Diaz’s side on Tuesday night.
In the press conference, Scaloni revealed that Mac Allister was able to train with the squad on Sunday and that he would be named in the travelling squad to face Colombia.
Liverpool make Salah contract decision
Liverpool are willing to BREAK from their policy of only offering short-term deals to players over 30 as they plot a new contract for Mohamed Salah.
That’s according to a new report in Football Insider, which claims that concerns over who could come in to replace the Egyptian when his contract expires next summer have led the Reds’ transfer hierarchy to consider a renewal the best option.
Salah, 32, last renewed his contract in 2022 with his current terms extending to 2025. However, the goalscorer has made it publicly known in recent weeks that he considers this his final season at Anfield.
That has been interpreted in some quarters as an attempt to put pressure on the club into offering a new deal but so far no terms have been reached between the parties.
The £350,000 per-week superstar was the subject of intense transfer interest from Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2023 but Liverpool opted not to cash in on a substantial £150m offer.
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