£85m Liverpool transfer blow revealed but January striker move accelerates
Liverpool shortlisted an £85million star before seeing him join Tottenham Hotspur during the summer transfer window, a report has revealed, while the Reds have brought forward a striker capture.
Liverpool’s summer was headlined by the marquee signing of Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain. The French winger moved to Anfield in a £123m deal, making him the third-most expensive Premier League signing of all time.
Liverpool also bolstered their winger ranks with the addition of Victor Munoz, while Ronald Araujo has been brought in to provide cover at both centre-half and right-back.
But Andoni Iraola’s side did not land a central midfielder, despite links with a costly star…
New Liverpool link
Liverpool considered Mateus Fernandes before watching the Portuguese sign for Tottenham from West Ham United for a huge £85m in July, The Athletic report.
They wrote: ‘Another midfielder who featured on Liverpool’s shortlist if they had decided to strengthen in that area was West Ham United’s Mateus Fernandes, who was snapped up by Tottenham for £85million.’
The report explains how Liverpool were analysing midfield targets in case Alexis Mac Allister decided to move on.
Liverpool scouts viewed Monaco star Lamine Camara as their ‘favoured option’, and the Reds will maintain their interest in the 22-year-old heading into 2027.
Chelsea saw a £47m deal for Camara collapse right at the very end of deadline day, and Liverpool could soon hijack their talks for him.
Striker deal
18-year-old French striker Djylian N’Guessan had been expected to join Liverpool from Saint-Etienne for €5m (£4.3m) next summer, but the transfer has been accelerated to January.
This Is Anfield editor Jack Lusby wrote on X: ‘Understand Djylian N’Guessan will officially make his transfer to #LFC in January.
‘This is despite Saint-Etienne announcing a new contract before his loan to Brest today.
‘N’Guessan (18) could be brought straight in mid-season or spend the full campaign on loan.’
Saint-Etienne finalised a new contract with the France U20 international to stop him from joining Liverpool on a free transfer.
Sarr update
Liverpool made an approach for Ismaila Sarr as part of their search for a new right winger, only for it to be rebuffed by Crystal Palace.
When asked if Sarr might leave either in January or next summer, new Palace boss Pierre Sage replied: “I don’t think he will leave, because now all the clubs are in the season [and have squads finalised].
“We have a decision to make with the European list [registration of players for the Europa League], and he will speak about that later. It is difficult to decide the team when you are in these competitions.”
Sage added that Sarr has to ‘digest’ the disappointment of missing out on a transfer to Anfield.
The attacker had deleted all Palace-related pictures from his Instagram amid his push to secure a major transfer.
