Following the bombshell omission of Fabinho from Liverpool’s squad travelling to Germany for a pre-season training camp, and a £40m bid from Al-Ittihad being made, the Brazil midfielder could be into his final few days as a Reds player.
In light of this morning’s significant update on the 29-year-old, Melissa Reddy has named four players who the Merseyside club are believed to be ‘assessing’ as possible replacements for him, while also appearing to rule out one current Premier League ace.
The Sky Sports journalist tweeted: “Liverpool had been assessing longer-term candidates to replace Fabinho. Profile might shift as they’ll require an immediate starter.
“Among the names mooted have been Sofyan Amrabat, Ryan Gravenberch, Kalvin Phillips and Romeo Lavia… Moises Caicedo not on their list.”
The quartet mentioned by Reddy had all been linked with Liverpool in recent weeks and months to varying degrees of intensity, with Lavia’s name being floated the most consistently of late by various media.
He and Phillips are the two named candidates who boast Premier League experience and would be the most helpful to the Reds meeting their squad requirements for homegrown quotas.
The Manchester City powerhouse and Gravenberch may seen reasonably attainable due to their lack of game-time at their respective clubs last season, although Pep Guardiola’s side could have reservations about selling to the team who’ve been their strongest challengers during his reign at the Etihad Stadium.
Despite reports on Friday of Caicedo being a possible target (talkSPORT), Brighton’s vertiginous £100m asking price may have seen Liverpool strike a red line through his name as a player to pursue this summer.
With Fabinho now looking likely to leave following his omission from the pre-season travelling party, it’s crucial that the Reds act quickly in buying a readymade replacement in the number 6 role who’d be up to the task of performing to the standard of a Jurgen Klopp team.
You can see Reddy’s tweet below, via @MelissaReddy_ on Twitter:
Liverpool had been assessing longer-term candidates to replace Fabinho. Profile might shift as they'll require an immediate starter. Among the names mooted have been Sofyan Amrabat, Ryan Gravenberch, Kalvin Phillips and Romeo Lavia…
Moises Caicedo not on their list.
— Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) July 15, 2023
#Ep80 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Fabinho & Jordan Henderson… going, going, gone?🎙️
It should be Caicedo the rest are all risks.
Think its the huge fee. 80m or thereabouts. We can now buy Lavia who looks like he will be a top player. Already superb. And be able to afford a centrehalf as well.
I’d be amazed if Phillips was on the list unless he was for a really low fee. He’s nothing special.
we need 2 more players in the no 6 role,Thiago is injury prone,i will go after sofyan and lavia,they cant be more that 80 combined