Editor’s Column: How Liverpool could boost the summer transfer fund required for Klopp’s rebuild

It was reported back in January by Christian Falk that Liverpool have around £200-£250m to spend this summer.

It sounds like mega-money, and in comparison to what we’ve spent in all but one of the FSG transfer windows, it is, but the reality is £200m might not get you very far nowadays.

Let’s say the improbable happens and we manage to secure Jude Bellingham for his alleged £130m [Daily Mail]. That’s only £70m left to buy two more midfielders, a centre-back and a right-back.

If Liverpool are going to rebuild in the manner they surely must, we’ll need to make some brave player sales in order to fund it.

Of course, the figures I’m about to prophesize are hypothetical and educated estimations, rather than anything more concrete, and the reality is, where once we had a plethora of stars we could potentially offload for enormous money during their peaks, our top assets are much less sellable.

So, how could we boost the warchest?

Caoimhín Kelleher – Potential Transfer Fee: £25m

I really, really like Kelleher. He’s very good, and quite possibly, in five-years-time, we’ll be rueing the decision to sell him. But needs must. At 24-years-old, he’s about two years past when he should’ve started playing first-team football. It would cruel and negligent to keep him on our bench for any longer. He’s still contracted for another three seasons at the end of this one, and there’s nobody getting past Alisson in that time. The Brazilian has been our only good performer this season and is entering his peak goalkeeping years.

£25m sounds a lot, and it might be a little hopeful, but Arsenal signed Aaron Ramsdale in 2021 for £30m and he’s shown more promise than the Englishman had, just in fewer games. Similarly another young goalkeeper from the British Isles, Jordan Pickford, once joined Everton for £30m, too. Kelleher is in that bracket. In fact, he might end up better than both. So a club like Spurs or Aston Villa cold feasibly stump up the cash.

Joe Gomez – Potential Transfer Fee: £25m

England international centre-back who’s still only 25-years-old. It pains me to say this as I’ve always held enormously high hopes for Gomez, but I think the injuries have taken their toll, physically and mentally, and he’s simply too prone to a mistake nowadays. I actually prefer him at right-back to centre-back, and I’d have no issue keeping him around as a backup; but if we’re to buy a new centre-back, which we should, Gomez is expendable and potentially profitable. He arrived as a youngster from Charlton way back so would make us a tidy sum.

£25m might be a little hefty, but a mid-table Premier League side with money, and there are plenty of those around now, could take the plunge. It’d be sad to see him go but ultimately, it’s now or never given how far ahead in the pecking order Virgil van Dijk and Ibou Konate are.

Fabio Carvalho – Potential Transfer Fee: £20m

Has Carvalho done anything wrong? No. He hasn’t had enough opportunities, but at the end of the day, it’s difficult to see where the chances will come. Even with Luis Diaz injured and unavailable on Carvalho’s favoured left-wing, the youngster hasn’t had a sniff.

Given he was the best player in the Championship last season, there’ll be no shortage of suitors at either the top of that division or the bottom of the Premier League. Liverpool acquired him for peanuts because of his contract situation, so it would be easy profit, and if we’re really convinced of his potential, perhaps we should insert some kind of buyback clause in any deal, as we did with Jordon Ibe and Rhian Brewster back in the day. It turned out both those sales were very good ones from our perspective though, and I’d predict Carvalho might be too, despite his talent. Simply, Diaz, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez are better suited right now for this season and next, and Klopp would prefer Cody Gakpo or Harvey Elliott at no.10 if we changed formation.

Curtis Jones – Potential Transfer Fee: £18m

Scouser. Great lad. Academy product. Not the kind of player you want to sell, but Jones is rarely available and when he is, often confusing. What does he do…? Where does he play…? A lovely technician with serious talent, but Liverpool need goals in attack and he doesn’t provide those, and sturdiness in midfield, which he doesn’t either.

A nice bench option but stylistically, I’m just not sure he fits. Maybe a loan could be best, as regardless of the potential money we could get for him, he needs minutes.

Nat Phillips – Potential Transfer Fee: £10m

Nat Phillips will likely be a Liverpool player so long, he’ll get a testimonial. Maybe he should for what he did to Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the San Siro. But still… He never plays and is entirely expendable. We might do well to get £10m, but at this stage, should take anything.

Rhys Williams – Potential Transfer Fee: £5m

Same as with Phillips. Good lad, decent player. Not needed. £5m seems fair.

TOTAL: £113m 

So, without weakening our starting XI in any way, there is decent money to be made via sales this summer, on top of the supposed budget. What I’ve guessed at here would be a very, very strong selling summer – and not all of these players will leave. But for me, it’s time for wholesale changes and this will help Klopp start again.