Liverpool has just two more weeks to get fresh faces through the door as Arne Slot risks operating with the exact same squad he inherited from Jurgen Klopp for his first season in charge.
While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it means Slot has been unable to stamp his authority on the team by bringing in some of his own recruits, and could now be forced to wait until January 2025 in order to do so. With just a couple of days until the start of the new campaign, too, fans are getting restless.
And even more so given the recent failure to convince Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi to join the club, who has opted to stay in Spain with his boyhood club despite Liverpool's promise to triple his wages. However, there could be one last ditch effort to drag the 25-year-old to Anfield .
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According to Spanish newspaper El Diario Vasco , Liverpool is willing to pay the midfielder’s $66.2million (£51.5m/€60m) release clause, or even a little above that, in order to get a deal over the line. Despite being told no by the Euro 2024 winner, the Reds are refusing to give up.
And those efforts could yet be rewarded following another report from The Times that claims Real Sociedad is already experiencing issues with Zubimendi over a new contract. It's claimed the player is unhappy with the terms he is now being offered, having been promised to be made the team's highest-paid player if he stays.
Talks between the two parties are now proving "problematic", which is "presumably" because the player is playing hardball and wants the same level of desire that Liverpool showed him to stay longer. Should the problems persist, then Zubimendi could be prone to making yet another dramatic U-turn on proceedings.
In the meantime, however, Liverpool might already have an alternative ready to snap up, following reports that the club has been "offered" a midfielder this summer. The man in question is former Italian international Marco Verratti, who currently plies his trade for Qatar Stars League club Al-Arabi.
According to HITC , the Reds are one of a number of clubs who have been offered the chance to sign the former Paris Saint-Germain star, just 12 months after he left the French giants for the Middle East, as he vies for a return to Europe.
With a European Championship's medal around his neck and 30 trophies with PSG under his belt, Verratti is not short of experience. However, at 31 years of age, coupled with his high wages and being injury-prone, this is a move that appears unlikely for now.
Elsewhere, Liverpool's hunt for a new centre-back continues and Inter Milan's Alessandro Bastoni has been mentioned as one potential target this summer. The Reds have previously been linked with the Italian, who is expected to cost in the region of $88million (£69m/€80m) according to reports in his homeland from FC Inter News.
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