Liverpool
Liverpool’s centre-back options still fragile as preseason approaches
Injuries and contract uncertainty leave Liverpool thin at centre back ahead of 2026–27 season. Ends.
Liverpool could begin preseason with Jérémy Jacquet and Geovanni Leoni as the only senior centre backs available to Arne Slot. That is a positive in one sense: both players are in the final stages of recovery from long-term injury. It also underlines how thin the squad is at a pivotal position.
Leoni should be ready for day one of preseason. The 19-year-old Italian, a surprise signing last summer as Liverpool spent over $600 million on new players, suffered an ACL injury on his debut last September. Early estimates of a year out have since shortened, offering a welcome boost.
Slot’s preparations come against a compact preseason schedule. Liverpool will train at home before travelling for friendlies: Sunderland in Nashville on July 25, Wrexham in New York four days later, and Leeds United in Chicago on Aug. 2. The new Premier League season begins on Aug. 22.
There are further complications. Virgil van Dijk will be at the World Cup with Netherlands into early July at least and is not expected to report back to Liverpool until the end of the month at the earliest. Ibrahima Konaté will also be at the tournament and his return to Liverpool is uncertain after he finished the season with no new contract agreement and no sign of one on the horizon.
Joe Gomez, Liverpool’s longest serving player, is also a source of uncertainty. He could pursue a summer transfer to play more regularly as he approaches his 30th birthday next May. “I don’t know is the honest answer. I’ve only got a year left, so I don’t know,” he said recently.
Liverpool managed almost all of 2025–26 with Gomez as the only cover for Van Dijk and Konaté. If Gomez and Konaté remain, the arrivals or recoveries of Jacquet and Leoni would give the club five centre-back options for 2026–27. Equally possible is a scenario in which Jacquet and Leoni are only joined by Van Dijk, which would make at least one, and perhaps two, summer signings essential.
That the coming campaign will almost certainly be Van Dijk’s last with the club increases the urgency. It feels too soon for Liverpool to place so much trust in a starting centre-back pairing with a combined age of 39 and only 54 career top flight league appearances between them.
Liverpool
Liverpool Part Ways with Slot After Two Seasons of Title and Tumult
After two seasons at Liverpool, Slot departs with a title but growing defeats, cup exits and unrest.
Liverpool confirmed on Saturday that Arne Slot will leave after two seasons in charge. In a brief statement the former Feyenoord manager repeated his gratitude for the opportunity and highlighted the high point of his tenure.
“It’s been an amazing ride together with Liverpool,” Slot said, via Fabrizio Romano . “I am so grateful that we were able to win the league last season.” He referenced Liverpool’s record-tying 20th league title from 2024–25, the undisputed highlight of his time at Anfield.
That title came with strong domestic league numbers: the Reds finished the 2024–25 campaign on 84 points, 10 more than runners-up Arsenal, and suffered only four league defeats. Cup and European results were less consistent across his spell.
In Slot’s first season Liverpool exited the Champions League in the round of 16 to eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain, lost the Carabao Cup final to Newcastle United and were eliminated from the FA Cup in the fourth round by Championship side Plymouth Argyle.
The club’s second season saw results deteriorate. Liverpool finished fifth in the Premier League, and bowed out of the Champions League in the quarterfinals to Paris Saint-Germain by a 4–0 aggregate scoreline. They also exited the FA Cup in the quarterfinals after a 4–0 defeat to Manchester City and were beaten 3–0 by Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup fourth round.
Despite the run of results, the club appeared prepared to continue its backing of Slot through the season, holding firm rather than dismissing him mid-season and placing faith in Jürgen Klopp’s successor to correct course.
The situation changed after Mohamed Salah posted a sharply worded critique of Slot, the team’s playing style and the club’s condition on social media. When players including Florian Wirtz, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Hugo Ekitiké, Andy Robertson and Jeremie Frimpong liked the post, the response became a visible, public mutiny on Merseyside.
Liverpool
Why Liverpool Relieved Arne Slot: Four Failings That Tilted the Balance
Slot’s Liverpool were dismissed after 20 defeats, heavy losses and visible player decline this year.
One week after the season ended, Liverpool’s hierarchy reached the conclusion many reporters had begun to expect. Despite initial suggestions the club might retain faith in Slot, decision-makers agreed the situation was untenable and the Dutchman was dismissed. In the end, the Dutchman can have few complaints about his dismissal.
The first and most obvious factor was results. For only the second time in the Premier League era and first since the competition’s inaugural campaign, Liverpool suffered 20 defeats across all competitions. A quarter of the season’s defeats came by three or more goals, with particularly damaging losses at Nottingham Forest, PSV Eindhoven and Crystal Palace. Seven defeats arrived without Liverpool even scoring, nine involved the Reds conceding three or more times and five were losses suffered in stoppage time.
Second, the manner of many defeats exposed a tactical and identity problem. What made Liverpool such a devastating side under Jürgen Klopp was their gegenpressing philosophy. Intensity was always king. However, the Reds have lost that offense-first mentality under Slot, the measured approach taken in his first campaign becoming increasingly pedestrian with each passing week. Liverpool became straightforward to play against; a misfiring defence was left exposed by a soft centre and an apathetic forward line out of possession. A lack of pressure and intensity allowed opponents at all levels to slice through the team.
The third issue was development and regression. Slot’s reinvention of Ryan Gravenberch in his debut season proved key to Liverpool winning the Premier League title and offered reassurance of his ability to develop individuals. However, that transformation has proven an outlier. Dominik Szoboszlai is the only Liverpool player who notably improved upon last term’s performances in 2025–26, when Slot was not attempting to shoehorn him in at right back, of course. In contrast, Alexis Mac Allister, Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konaté and Cody Gakpo recorded sizeable drop-offs.
Finally, the new signings largely failed to make the desired impact. Hugo Ekitiké was the only clear success from the summer additions; Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong and, for the most part, Milos Kerkez did not flourish under Slot. The combination of poor results, a lost playing identity and visible player regressions made the task of winning back supporters impossible. Even the most ardent Slot sympathisers had run out of excuses by season’s end.
Liverpool
Konaté and Liverpool: Contract Talks Collapse as Exit Looms
Konaté contract talks at Liverpool have broken down and he is set to leave this summer, reports say.
Negotiations over a new contract for Ibrahima Konaté have ended without agreement, with multiple reports indicating the centre back is set to leave Liverpool this summer. TalkSPORT first reported that Konaté would depart, and Sky Sports News later said the club and player “could not find common ground” after lengthy talks.
As recently as April, Konaté told assembled reporters there was a “big chance” he would remain at Liverpool. “This is what I’ve always wanted,” he added at the time. In the weeks after that declaration there was no official confirmation from the club, and discussions were described as being at a “stalemate.”
Konaté arrived at Liverpool in 2021 as a 22-year-old, having built a strong record at RB Leipzig while still yet to make his senior international debut. The contract he signed on arrival reflected that stage of his career and is thought to be in the region of $201,000 (£150,000) per week.
Reports earlier this season said Konaté sought a new salary “in line” with the club’s top earners. There were no suggestions he expected sums comparable to Virgil van Dijk or Mohamed Salah, two of the highest paid players globally. Konaté has previously insisted: “I didn’t even ask for something from the club,” adding that the club “made me an offer, and I replied to them with something, that is it.” That reply has been characterised publicly as a counter-offer, and it appears Liverpool were unwilling to accept those terms.
The drawn-out negotiations were affected by Liverpool’s underwhelming campaign. Champions League qualification and the financial certainty it brings was not secured until the final game of the season, limiting the club’s ability to commit to offers while revenue remained unclear.
In contrast to Liverpool’s uncertainty, rival clubs have registered increasing interest. L’Équipe report several sides have shown “concrete” interest in signing Konaté should he become a free agent this summer.
