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Arne Slot might not be a manager, framed as Liverpool’s head coach, but the Dutchman still has a significant say in Anfield’s comings and goings.

Working with sporting director Richard Hughes to improve Liverpool’s Premier League-winning squad this summer, the strategy appears to be working, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez slated to upgrade the defensive flanks while Florian Wirtz is targeted as the new playmaker-in-chief.

Engaged in direct and progressive talks with Bayer Leverkusen for Wirtz, 22, Liverpool are on the cusp of breaking their transfer record and signing one of the game’s most sought-after and talented forwards; the German is renowned for his vision, athleticism and output.

Trent Alexander-Arnold might be leaving, but wrapping said deals up will assuage the malaise surrounding the vice-captain’s expected free transfer to Real Madrid.

And with Liverpool planning to remodel the frontline, too, Slot’s side could even raise their level for the 2025/26 campaign.

How Slot is remoulding Liverpool's frontline

Mohamed Salah extended his contract by two years last month, and it’s a good thing too. The right-winger broke the record for goal involvements in a 38-game Premier League season, hitting 47, and claimed the full gamut of accolades.

However, he’s 33 next month and needs more support. That’s why a concerted effort to sign Wirtz has been mounted, with Liverpool looking to sign a new striker in Eintracht Frankfurt’s £84m-rated striker Hugo Ekitike too.

It’s not just incomings, though. Barcelona are known admirers of Luis Diaz, while Bayern Munich have recently registered their interest in Cody Gakpo.

There’s also the Federico Chiesa conundrum. According to The Athletic, a return to Italy is a strong possibility, though perhaps a loan move would be more plausible. Chiesa, 27 and wracked by injuries in recent seasons, has featured peripherally this year after joining from Juventus for a cut-price £12.5m fee last summer.

He may well leave. However, Salah’s getting on a bit and Slot has hinted that the Italy international will be afforded the chance to prove himself during pre-season, so a resurgence isn’t off the cards.

The £150k-per-week forward has been unfortunate, and fans would love nothing more than to see him turn his Premier League career around and play an important part for the Reds next term.

The same could be said for Darwin Nunez, however, after three seasons that have left plenty to desired, it’s crucial that, unlike with last summer’s recruit, the 25-year-old is sold during the looming off-season.

Why Liverpool must cash in on Darwin Nunez

It’s simple: if FSG fail to engineer an exit for Nunez this summer, Liverpool will not play the upcoming season with a much-needed new number nine.

It’s been an up-and-down journey for the Uruguay star, and certainly not without its entertainment, but Nunez needs to leave Liverpool for the good of his career.

He’s stagnated, staled, lacking the intensity and tenacity which characterised his maverick style upon arriving on Merseyside. Now, he’s been hammered into a shape that’s left him unfit for purpose in Slot’s system, too erratic and instinctive to absorb and implement the Dutchman’s sharp tactics.

Given that he arrived from Benfica for a fee rising to a club-record £85m, the disappointment is understandably palpable.

24/25

45

1,982′

7

7

23/24

54

3,026′

18

15

22/23

42

2,366′

15

4

It’s rather telling that Nunez has struggled to adapt to Slot’s vision. Take Ryan Gravenberch; take Gakpo; take, even, Salah. Players have raised their game, all right, but Nunez has regressed.

Given that he takes home some £140k per week, it’s clear Liverpool need to move him on and bid for a more effective class goalscorer, especially when considering how much more he earns than top target Wirtz.

The German superstar takes home £73k per week, which is a little over half of Nunez’s earnings. Of course, he’s in line for a bumper pay rise when concluding his transfer to Liverpool, but it goes to show how disappointing Jurgen Klopp’s signing has been, scorer of 25 Premier League goals across three campaigns having never fallen to a lengthy injury.

Slot has been displeased with the South American’s application, at times, speaking of his “disappointment” in the talisman and even stating he “can’t accept” his perceived lack of work-rate back in February.

This, of course, combines with the plain truth that Nunez’s finishing simply hasn’t come on. As per Sofascore, he’s missed 55 big chances across his three terms in the Premier League, only scoring 25 goals.

You might think that Wirtz would be the perfect player to resurrect the centre-forward’s English career, and indeed, his playmaking prowess suggests he stands a stellar chance of at least raising Nunez’s game, but it’s not a risk Slot can afford to take, especially if attacking threats such as Gakpo or Diaz were to part with the Premier League champions.

Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak was the club’s top target, but he’s reportedly not going anywhere after Eddie Howe’s side succeeded in securing a place in next season’s Champions League.

If Liverpool find they must make their move for Ekitike instead, Slot will still get his mitts on “one of the best strikers out there,” as the Frenchman has been dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson.

As discussed earlier in the article, Ekitike would cost a significant outlay, maybe even scratching the same ballpark as Wirtz, but it would be money well spent for a player who would surely represent an upgrade on Nunez, who has sadly fallen by the wayside.

While there’s substance to the argument that Chiesa should stay on, providing cover for Salah, Nunez has failed to perform across three season, and now must be axed. It’s sad, for all of a Liverpool persuasion want him to succeed, but at this stage it would be a risk to keep him on with the league champions.

Not just Trent: World-class Liverpool star must not play for the club again

Liverpool are ready to make a series of sales in the transfer market this summer.

ByAngus Sinclair May 26, 2025

Well, at least we’ll all have those magical two nights against Real Madrid, eh? For Arsenal, it just wasn’t meant to be this season.

While some may argue that the Gunners have taken two steps back, ultimately losing the league title to Liverpool, currently 17 points behind where they were at this stage in 2023/24, progress has been made.

If anything, this campaign has shown why Mikel Arteta is such a special coach. With several key players out injured for large parts of the term, he took Arsenal to the semi-finals of the Champions League. That deserves shouting about.

Some individual magic from Declan Rice may have been relied upon in the semi-finals but they truly dominated the best team in the competition’s history; Real Madrid.

PSG, however? They were a bridge too far. It wasn’t as if Arsenal played poorly though. They will be left to bemoan Gianluigi Donnarumma’s heroics as the titanic Italian put in two Ballon d’Or-worthy performances across the tie.

There were those saves from Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard last week in the first leg and then there were those remarkable stops to deny Martin Odegaard early on in Paris on Wednesday and a sprawling save to keep out Bukayo Saka’s curling effort in the second half.

As Odegaard said after the game, it was a clash decided in both boxes. The simple fact was that PSG were better in those areas.

That said, Arsenal need to start seeing more from their captain if they are to revive their fortunes next season.

What's going wrong for Martin Odegaard

Ever since Odegaard was a 15-year-old coming through in Norway at Stromsgodset, handed a senior debut at a ridiculously young age, it’s clear how much talent he possesses.

Things didn’t work out at Madrid for the creative playmaker but in north London he has found a home for himself. Up until now, he has thrived.

In 2022/23, Odegaard scored as many as 15 goals, all of which came in the Premier League. No midfielder scored more goals than he in the league that year. In 2023/24, he wasn’t quite as prolific but he still scored eight in the league and 11 in all competitions.

This term, despite providing 11 assists, the Norway international has only found the net on five occasions. Given Arsenal’s general lack of firepower and crucially, a lack of a fit centre-forward, that has proven decisive.

So, what’s gone wrong? Well, ever since he sustained an ankle injury in the embryonic stages of this season, he’s not looked quite right. It took the midfielder a few months to recover and arguably, he’s still feeling the impacts of that now.

He’s never been a vicious ball striker, but he’s lacking so much power, not just in his shooting but his overall play. He looks lightweight, scared to take on a player, worried to challenge for the ball. His passing range is also off. Compared to last season, Odegaard is having 0.40 fewer shots per 90 minutes, making 0.56 fewer key passes per 90 and producing 1.56 fewer shot-creating actions per 90.

The first two metrics aren’t disastrous drop-offs, but it does indicate that the skipper is playing at a poorer level than he is used to.

So, what’s the solution? Well, they have a ready-made one in Ethan Nwaneri. They could also go out into the transfer market to replace him but that seems unlikely.

Perhaps there’s another option lying in wait.

Arsenal's unlikely Odegaard replacement

The summer window of 2022/23 was a memorable one for Arsenal. Arteta wanted to surround himself with winners and familiar faces, notably bringing in Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City.

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Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

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Jesus’ instant impact was staggering, scoring five times in his first eight Premier League outings. Sadly, since then, it hasn’t quite happened for him in an Arsenal shirt, notably ruled out for a lengthy period of time with an ACL injury in January.

It’s not really happened for the two other major signings for that window, either. Zinchenko could reportedly leave in the summer while Fabio Vieira is currently out on loan at Porto.

Vieira has flattered to deceive during his time at the Emirates. A midfielder cut from a similar cloth as Odegaard, lean yet creative, we certainly haven’t seen the best of him in red and white.

He did register six assists in his debut campaign following that £34m move but scored just twice, including a stunning effort against Brentford. Last term wasn’t much better either, scoring once and laying on four assists. He only played in 11 league games.

So, it was hardly a surprise that with Nwaneri coming through the ranks, he was sent out on loan.

Vieira headed back to his boyhood club Porto where, to give him his credit, we have seen an improvement. While the Portuguese midfielder’s numbers still aren’t mindblowing, the 24-year-old has found the net on five occasions and provided the same number of assists in 37 outings.

During a run of fixtures back in March, Vieira managed to score three goals and provide one assist across four outings, lending credence to Arsenal content creator Harvey Diamonds’ claim that he’d “hit some incredible form.”

While it’s unlikely that the young playmaker finds a route back into the Arsenal team, he’s got plenty of eye-catching qualities that would make him a strong replacement for Odegaard.

Odegaard vs Vieira in 24/25 (league stats)

Metric (* = per game)

Odegaard

Vieira

Goals

2

4

Assists

7

4

Big chances created

12

10

Crosses *

0.6

1.6

Successful long balls *

1.3

2.1

Key passes *

2.1

1.6

Successful dribbles *

0.9

0.4

Ground duels won *

2.4

3.5

Times fouled *

0.9

1.6

Stats via Sofascore.

Ironically celebrated as a player “who’s made for Champions League nights” by data analyst Ben Mattinson, Vieira brings a certain level of passing that, truth be told, few on the continent possess. Why do you think Arsenal signed him in the first place?

Compared to players in the 14 leagues most similar to the Portuguese top-flight, he ranks in the top 6% of midfielders for assists per 90 minutes across the last year, the best 12% for key passes and the top 3% for passes into the penalty area.

While he is yet to show much in the Premier League, he’s still young enough to improve and he possesses the qualities to unlock doors. That’s something Arsenal have really lacked at times across 2024/25.

Perhaps a Vieira revival could be on the cards?

Related Mega upgrade on Odegaard: Berta lining up Arsenal move for £100m "machine"

The £100m-rated star would be a game-changer for Arsenal.

Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes May 7, 2025

Liverpool have won the Premier League less than one year after Jurgen Klopp bowed out, almost nine years of leadership, leading the larger-than-life German to intimate his decision to call it a day.

He built Anfield back up from the disrepair it had slumped into. Klopp’s Liverpool wasn’t built in a day but it will stand strong for many years to come, with Arne Slot proving that by taking the blueprint and winning the Premier League in his first season at the helm.

The Dutch tactician is a genius, but he’s dovetailed into Klopp’s hothouse and has taken this special team to another level, Liverpool now crowned top-flight champions for a record-equalling 20th time, perching alongside Manchester United.

One of Klopp’s final and most significant hurrahs was the success in repackaging a flagging midfield and turning it back into a robust machine.

They’ve all played important roles, but who can say that Alexis Mac Allister hasn’t been the pick of the bunch? He was the centrepiece as Tottenham Hotspur were defeated on Sunday evening, for sure.

Alexis Mac Allister's performance vs Spurs

Dominic Solanke powered a header past Alisson after just 12 minutes, silencing Anfield’s raucous atmosphere and threatening to spoil the party.

But Liverpool returned like a tidal wave, scoring three goals before the break and two more after the hour mark. Mac Allister’s was the pick of the bunch, thundering home to restore his team’s lead after Luis Diaz had restored parity eight minutes earlier.

The Argentine put in a performance for the ages, underscored his trophy-winning credentials and status as one of the finest midfielders in the world.

Player ratings courtesy of Sofascore

Blending combativeness with a cultured foot, Spurs simply didn’t have the answer and were overwhelmed in the centre, something which proved fatal as Mohamed Salah and co were then able to swarm and pick at the shaky backline.

Alexis Mac Allister’s Performance vs Tottenham

Match Stats

#

Minutes played

83′

Goals

1

Assists

0

Shots (on target)

3 (2)

Accurate passes

35/40 (88%)

Key passes

2

Tackles + interceptions

7

Clearances

1

Duels won

7/11

Stats via Sofascore

The former Brighton man has earned his flowers, no doubt about that. However, he wasn’t the only one to produce the goods when Liverpool needed it, with Cody Gakpo’s display confirming, were it not known already, that he is undroppable over on the left flank.

Cody Gakpo is now undroppable after title win

Gakpo has been frustrated by injury over the past few months, but he’s come on leaps and bounds under the wing of Slot this season and effectively sealed the title-winning victory over Tottenham when making it 3-1 before half-time.

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Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

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BBC Sport’s Pat Nevin hailed Gakpo for his “twinkle toes,” collecting from the corner and moving into a pocket with fleet feet, capitalising on some shoddy defending before unleashing a pinpoint finish to Guglielmo Vicario’s right.

The 25-year-old’s cool finish was emblematic of his campaign, an icy figure down the left flank whose goalscoring knack and industrious approach to his football suggests he has nailed down the berth and should not be moved.

There’s a case to be made that Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez should both be sold this summer, with Diaz working so seamlessly as a roving focal frontman.

It allows Salah to maximise his output and it has paid dividends for Gakpo, whose positional readjustment this season, almost exclusively playing off the left, having been dotted all about last year, has seen him clinch 17 goals and six assists in all competitions this season.

The Dutchman isn’t just a poacher either. His goals come in various forms, and he gets stuck in defensively too, having won six of his eight duels against Tottenham while chipping in with two tackles and two interceptions apiece, as per Sofascore. As a result, he was awarded with an 8/10 match rating by the Liverpool Echo.

Plenty has been made of Liverpool’s projected transfer plans, and while fans would like a new wideman to enrich these formidable ranks, Gakpo, a Premier League champion, has proved that he’s a fixed feature in Slot’s starting line-up.

Related Klopp sold Liverpool ace for just £9.5m, now he's outperforming Isak

He was once a clutch presence in Jurgen Klopp’s title-winning Liverpool outfit.

Posts 1 ByAngus Sinclair Apr 24, 2025

Manchester United are now in talks to sign a “world-class” striker, and they could use a first-team star as a makeweight in the negotiations, according to a report.

Man Utd's striker targets

It is becoming increasingly clear that Man United will pursue a new striker in the summer transfer window, given that Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have just six goals between them in the Premier League this season.

The Red Devils have set their sights on a number of the Premier League’s best strikers, recently making contact over Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Matheus Cunha, whose agent is set to fly to England to continue discussions.

Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap is United’s top target, however, with the Englishman potentially set to be available on the cheap in the summer, given that his side are almost certain to be relegated to the Championship.

£65m price drop: Man Utd and Amorim increasingly keen on "special" forward

The Red Devils are set to battle it out for a winger, whose price tag may have dropped considerably.

1 ByDominic Lund Apr 9, 2025

Delap may be the priority target from within England, but there have also been reports that Napoli’s Victor Osimhen is at the top of Ruben Amorim’s list, with the Nigerian set to leave the Italian club at the end of the season.

According to a report from Italy (via Sport Witness), Man United are now in talks to seal a deal for Osimhen, who has a €70m (£60m) release clause in his contract, which is only available to clubs outside of Italy.

United are in discussions over a £60m agreement, but Hojlund is expected to be used as a makeweight in negotiations, so it is unclear how much money they will be putting on the table alongside the Dane, who would clear over £4m-a-year off their books in wages.

Juventus are also in the race for Osimhen, but they are unwilling to meet his high wage demands, and the fact the release clause doesn’t apply to Italian clubs could also pose an issue.

"World-class" Osimhen could be huge upgrade on Hojlund

The Nigeria international has been lauded as “world-class” by football writer Matt Barlow, and for good reason, having maintained a fantastic goalscoring record for both Napoli and Galatasaray over the past few seasons.

Season

Appearances

Goals

2022-23

39

31

2023-24

32

17

2024-25

32

28

Hojlund, on the other hand, has struggled in front of goal for quite some time, averaging just 0.38 goals per 90 over the past year, which places him in the 54th percentile, when compared to his positional peers.

It would be a shame to see the 22-year-old exit Old Trafford, given that he is still young, and as pointed out by Amorim, the lack of goals is a collective problem.

However, if using Hojlund in negotiations helps get a deal for Osimhen over the line, Man United should not hesitate.

Having to let go of some of the key performers that helped them win the title, they have lost two of their first three games this season

Matt Roller31-Mar-20251:53

Rapid Fire Review – What do KKR need to learn from this defeat?

The first ten days of IPL 2025 have seen players who won the 2024 title performing brilliantly up and down the country. The only problem for the league’s defending champions is that very few of them are playing for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).Phil Salt has been blazing boundaries for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Mitchell Starc wore the Purple Cap for a while after eight wickets in two appearances for Delhi Capitals (DC). Shreyas Iyer hit an IPL-best 97 not out in his first game as Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain. Even Nitish Rana, who played only twice last season owing to injury, crashed a match-winning 81 for Rajasthan Royals (RR).Meanwhile, a KKR side that lost three times in the whole of last year has already been beaten two times: a seven-wicket defeat at home to RCB, and now an eight-wicket thrashing at the Wankhede on Monday night against Mumbai Indians (MI). These are early days in a long season, but they have made a slow start to their title defence – as champions have tended to after mega auctions in recent times.Related

• Ramandeep: 'Being picked by KKR has changed everything for me'

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• Ashwani Kumar – from the hinterlands of Punjab to a raucous Wankhede

• Ashwani Kumar on his debut: 'Was feeling pressure, didn't have lunch'

• Rookies Ashwani and Rickelton lead MI to first win

The whole purpose of the mega auction – which saw teams permitted a maximum of six retentions from last year – is to ensure the IPL retains the competitive balance which makes it such a compelling spectacle. It is ideal for the league’s overall narrative, minimising the gap between top and bottom, but makes the notion of retaining a winning squad near-impossible.It must be hugely frustrating for successful franchises, but the combination of a strict salary cap and the unpredictability of an auction is one of the IPL’s key design features. It is not by mistake that there have been four different champions in the last five seasons, with seven teams reaching at least one final in that time. Already this season, each team has won at least once.Unsurprisingly, KKR used all six retentions after their 2024 triumph and made no secret of the fact that they would have liked to keep hold of several more. They bought another six of their title-winners back at November’s auction, with Venkatesh Iyer foremost among them and his INR 23.75 crore price tag doubtlessly inflated by the franchise’s desire to keep the core of the side together.Venkatesh Iyer has scored just nine runs in two innings so far•Associated PressCast your mind back to November’s auction in Jeddah, and you may remember Venky Mysore raising a purple paddle to place bids on all three of Salt, Shreyas and Starc. The trouble was that they had insufficient funds remaining to bring them back within the confines of the salary cap.It is clearly too soon to evaluate Venkatesh’s season, which has brought him nine runs in his first two innings. But the decision to go hard for him over several others was a significant choice at the auction, and KKR’s main changes from last year’s side – Quinton de Kock, Ajinkya Rahane and Spencer Johnson replacing Salt, Shreyas and Starc respectively – do not look like obvious upgrades.But, in fact, de Kock and Rahane are the only batters to hit fifties in their first three games this year, with another new signing, Moeen Ali, instrumental in their win over RR in Guwahati. Instead, it has been their returning players – including Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh – who have not fired at this stage of the season.Angkrish Raghuvanshi was the only bright spark with the bat for KKR•BCCI”It’s very disheartening after the mega auction because you have a set combination and then every three years the team changes,” Ramandeep said after Monday’s defeat. “But this is part and parcel of the IPL. Now teams will be trying to find their winning combinations as soon as possible and we’re trying for the same.”This was a night that KKR will try to swiftly forget: they were bowled out in under 100 balls for their lowest total since 2022. Rahane described it simply as a “collective batting failure” on what he believed was “a good wicket to bat on”, and will be looking for a response against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Thursday: “We’ve got to learn really fast from this game,” he said.Loyalty is a rare trait in a T20 franchise, and generally an admirable one. The challenge for KKR was to identify the role each player had in their title win and to value them accordingly: it will become increasingly evident as this campaign unfolds whether they have kept hold of the right ingredients from their title-winning recipe.Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2022 and MI in 2018 were the most recent teams to start a season as defending champions immediately after a mega auction, and neither reached the playoffs. KKR will be determined to prove that is a coincidence rather than a pattern – and must overcome two heavy early-season defeats to do so.

The opener tops almost all batting charts for his country

Sampath Bandarupalli07-Jul-20238313 Runs scored by Tamim Iqbal in ODI cricket. He retires as the only player with 8000-plus runs for Bangladesh in the format. His 14 ODI hundreds are also the most by any player for Bangladesh; no one else has even scored ten.1 Tamim signs off as the highest run-getter for Bangladesh in international cricket with a tally of 15,148. His 25 hundreds across formats are also the most by anyone for Bangladesh.62.83 Tamim’s batting average in ODI cricket between April 2015 and December 2018. It is the fourth-best average for any batter with 1000-plus runs in that period, only behind Virat Kohli (83.97), Ross Taylor (67.61) and Rohit Sharma (66.00). Tamim scored 2325 runs in that 45-month period, with seven hundreds in 44 innings.