Champions League squad announced
Liverpool have revealed their 25-man squad for the 2017/18 Champions League group stage. Following their fourth-place finish in the Premier League last year, the upcoming CL campaign will be the Red’s first since the 2014/15 season, so it is imperative that the team is selected correctly. The first name that everyone was looking for was, of course, Philippe Coutinho, who had reportedly asked to be left out of the European squad, potentially to avoid being cup-tied, should a January move to Barcelona surface. The Brazilian has been included in the side which shows that Jurgen Klopp plans to reintegrate back into the squad, now that his back injury has seemingly cleared up.
Nathaniel Clyne will be disappointed that he has been left out of the side and the true seriousness of his back injury. His absence from the side means that he won’t be allowed to play until the knockout stage, at the earliest. This shows that Liverpool’s medical team believe that Clyne won’t be back to full fitness until around about December, the last group fixture is against Spartak Moscow on the 6th.
The rest of the squad offers up no real surprises, with both Danny Ings and Lazar Markovic also being left out, but that was to be expected. An unlimited number of players born after January 1st, 1996 are allowed in addition to the initial 25. Liverpool’s first match is at Anfield against Sevilla on September 13th.
Full squad: Loris Karius, Simon Mignolet, Danny Ward, Dejan Lovren, Joe Gomez, Ragnar Klavan, Alberto Moreno, Andy Robertson, Joel Matip, Jon Flanagan, Conor Masterson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gini Wijnaldum, James Milner, Philippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson, Marko Grujic, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Emre Can, Cameron Brannagan, Ovie Ejaria, Sheyi Ojo, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah, Daniel Sturridge, Sadio Mane, Dominic Solanke, Ryan Kent, Rhian Brewster, Ben Woodburn, Harry Wilson
Lemar wanted deadline day move
Monaco’s vice president, Vadim Vasilyev has revealed that Thomas Lemar was after a move to the Premier League, only to be blocked by his club on January 31st. The Frenchman was apparently open to both Arsenal and Liverpool and, although it was reported by Arsene Wenger that he turned down the Gunners, it was Monaco who made sure no deals went through. Liverpool were prepared to go as high as £75million for the winger but no higher. However, had Coutinho been allowed to move to Spain, the Reds would’ve probably pushed a lot harder to try and get their man.
Fenerbahce to move for Markovic
Turkish giants, Fenerbahce are reportedly interested in a loan move for Lazar Markovic. The Serbian midfielder, who spent the 2015/16 season with Fenerbahce, has fallen massively out of favour at Liverpool and it is clear that he has no future with the club. The Reds have been trying to get him permanently off the books this summer and may be reluctant to let him leave on loan unless it is absolutely necessary. Turkish clubs can sign players until September 8th so there’s still a few more days for a deal to materialise.