Liverpool and Everton’s summer transfer window will be hectic. The English press already knew that for sure, although that doesn’t always mean anything. Manager Jürgen Klopp also confirmed after the last game that quite a bit is needed.
Klopp hints at busy transfer summer after failed season
Southampton and Liverpool made a spectacle at St Mary’s Stadium : 4-4. It was a final game without stakes: Southampton was already assured of relegation, Liverpool knew it could no longer reach the Champions League. It made it possible for the visitors to say goodbye to James Milner and Roberto Firmino, two defining forces who close the doors of Anfield behind them. Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will also leave Liverpool.
The broom has to go through the selection, many connoisseurs think, after years in which Liverpool largely kept the same core. “We are now going to prepare for the future,” Klopp said after the game. ‘I don’t feel like I need a holiday now either, I feel fine. Not a few months ago, but I’m full of energy now. We’re taking a break from training, but hopefully a pretty busy period is starting in another aspect of football.’
Liverpool’s midfield in particular is undoubtedly a focus for the coming months. With Milner, Keïta and Oxlade-Chamberlain, three forces leave in that line, while the completely flopped mercenary Arthur Melo also plays in that line. Moreover, with Thiago (32 years old) and Jordan Henderson (32, 33 when the next season starts), two of the remaining players have entered the autumn of their careers.
Dyche sounds the alarm at Everton despite 69th season in a row at the highest level
Sean Dyche has called for big changes at Everton. The Toffees’ trainer barely kept the club at the highest level in England on the last match day, but hopes that the club management will take a different course.
Since Everton were promoted to England’s top tier in the 1953/54 season, they have played 68 seasons in a row without being relegated. But it has now crawled through the eye of the needle for two seasons in a row. “There is a huge amount of work to be done,” Dyche concluded after the liberating 1-0 win over Bournemouth.
“What I’ve learned about Everton is that the fans want us to compete at the top. But that’s not the case. Make no mistake, it’s a big club with a big history. But we don’t perform like a big club.” That is why Dyche advocates major changes at the club in the coming period: “It takes an enormous amount of change to build a new future, a bigger future.”
The 51-year-old coach is therefore afraid that the survival will overshadow underlying pain points of the club. “The Evertonians need to remember that. This is a bigger project than just: well, now it turned out well. This has been going on for two years. I have no magic dust. I can only make things happen that I think are realistic.’
