Jurgen Klopp was handed a potentially serious Premier League selection problem when several transfer windows across Europe were slammed in traditional fashion on Monday.
According to the highest regulations in England, clubs are allowed to register 25 first-team players over the age of 21 for the 2020-21 season.
At least eight of these players must either be local according to the rules of the football association – every player who has been with an English club for at least three years before the age of 21 – or be academy or U21 players.
Managers can add any number of academy and U21 players to their squad, regardless of their country of birth.
Liverpool currently have 31 first-team players, 18 of whom are counted under the Reds’ quota for non-domestic players.
Goalkeeper: Alisson, Adrian
Defender: Van Dijk, Robertson, Matip, Tsimikas
Midfield player: Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Thiago, Keita, Grujic, Shaqiri
Forward: Firmino, Mane, Salah, Minamino, Jota, Origi
That alone poses a huge problem for Klopp as one of the players on that list won’t be registered for Liverpool in the Premier League this year – and the club’s transfer stance would tell you that a choice between Xherdan Shaqiri and Marko Grujic matters over the last place.
Grujic had emerged in talks with the Reds as a target for Werder Bremen in the past few days, but the Bundesliga could not raise enough money to sign for the 24-year-old midfielder, no matter how flexible the terms of payment were negotiated with Liverpool and up to asked for £ 20 million.
Meanwhile, Shaqiri has drawn the attention of clubs in Germany and Italy but no suitable offer has been made for the £ 20million Swiss striker and the player himself has said he was the one who decided to stay with Anfield.
While neither player makes it across the line before the international deadline at 11:00 p.m. on Monday 5th October, the transfer saga is not over yet.
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Liverpool could still do business with any Football League club, perhaps even to approve a short-term loan for one from Grujic or Shaqiri and ensure they don’t get relegated to U23 football before they can leave in January’s Premier League trade – and EFL clubs won’t fall until October 16th.
And while the Reds can’t buy players from international clubs, the Dutch transfer window doesn’t close until today (October 6th), while it closes on October 17th in Russia and is open until October 25th in Portugal – meaning Liverpool Players who play in clubs in one of these leagues up to any given date can still change.
Throughout the window, Liverpool insisted that neither Grujic nor Shaqiri would leave unless a permanent deal was made. However, given this problem, this attitude could change.
However, another problem for the Reds in sorting out a possible transfer for Shaqiri has arisen after the Swiss federation confirmed on Tuesday that the attacker is isolated after testing positive for Covid-19 – meaning he will be incapacitated for at least 10 days in compliance with self-isolation guidelines.
Elsewhere, the Reds’ first team roster consists of local, academy and U21 players.
Goalkeeper: Kelleher
Defender: Gomez, Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Williams, Van den Berg
Midfield player: Milner, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jones, Elliott, Woodburn, Wilson
Interestingly, Liverpool have been open to offers for Harry Wilson but Burnley couldn’t return for the Welshman when their original offer of £ 12m plus £ 3m add-ons was turned down last week.
The bid was turned down simply because the Reds were in no hurry to exempt players from discounts during the transfer window, valuing Wilson at least £ 20million.
Larger squads in the Champions League and an overcrowded schedule with cup and league games, combined with the concern of the players who have been infected with coronavirus – as we have already seen with Thiago Alcantara, Sadio Mane and Shaqiri in the last seven days – as well any injuries means having more players in the squad, suits the manager Jürgen Klopp this designation.
The boss will be pleased with more talent to choose from, especially given his belief that the wellbeing of the players after the brief preseason and the large number of games they complete during this campaign without introducing five substitutions in Premier league games are at risk – like other top divisions across Europe.
That doesn’t mean, however, that some of the players mentioned in Liverpool’s native ranks could leave yet.
Sepp van den Berg attracts the attention of clubs in the EFL and the Eredivisie on loan for this season – which, as explained above, could still happen – while Ben Woodburn and Nathaniel Phillips, who both attracted local clubs’ interest in the summer, could still temporarily move to an English club in a lower division.
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