Liverpool are preparing to sell ‘good players’ this summer after the season following their £450million transfer spend ended without silverware, Arne Slot has warned.
The Reds’ Champions League crushing at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, 4-0 over two legs sealed on Tuesday night, ensured the campaign will end trophy-less for the dethroned Premier League champions.
And now Slot, who continues to face questions over his own future, says Liverpool will have to ‘sell to buy’ in a rebuild this summer.
Club heroes Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson will be first out the Anfield door this summer as free agents but Slot is now suggesting high-profile team-mates will follow.
Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez were signed in a £450m splurge last summer but, a year on, Liverpool will look to spend more. And they need high-profile sales to facilitate that.
A qualifying place in next season’s Champions League will help Liverpool financially but Slot says the model is ‘sell to buy’.
‘That is what we have to play for now in the coming weeks,’ Slot told Amazon Prime. ‘The good thing is Alex (Isak) is back, well able to make minutes.
‘Much has been said that the club is in a transition. The club has sold eight or 10 players to make money to sign five or so very talented players. We have to sell to buy.
‘We are losing some players on a free transfer. It is a big challenge in the summer but the club has shown this model works. As I said many times the future looks very good, especially if we can sign players after good players leaving this summer.’
Ibrahima Konate’s contract is up this summer, although reports have suggested the centre back may agree fresh terms after a difficult season. Curtis Jones and Wataru Endo have been linked with moves away, 12 months before their own deals end.
Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport have reported that goalkeeper Alisson is a target for Juventus and Alexis Mac Allister was the subject of transfer reports earlier this year.
Slot, who won the Premier League title in his first year before the current disappointing campaign, is not assured of his future, either.
Wayne Rooney, working as a pundit on Amazon, questioned the Liverpool manager’s claims of ‘transition’.
‘I think you’re talking about rebuilds… they were champions last season,’ Rooney said.
‘They won the league last season and they spent an awful amount of money to try and make the squad better.
‘There’s certainly been faults from, whether that’s recruitment, obviously they’ve had players out injured but you shouldn’t be talking about a rebuild when you’ve just won the Premier League.
‘They’ve lost some really good players, you can see why the fans were so upset when they lost Trent.’
