On Friday, Arne Slot delivered a positive fitness update on three Liverpool players as he also asserted his position on Mo Salah‘s contract amid more interest from officials in Saudi Arabia.
Today’s Main LFC Headline
Slot had good news regarding three of Liverpool’s potential absentees for the match against Bournemouth.
Diogo Jota returned to training on Friday, as did Darwin Nunez who missed Wednesday’s match through illness. Joe Gomez also continued his return to match sharpness with the group.
The coach explained why they might not play against Andoni Iraola’s team, though, saying: “The question is, are they already far enough to join us towards Bournemouth? That’s something we have to wait and see today.
“Because we probably have already have more than 20 players available – we always have more than 20 available, but the ones that are mostly there.
“So we have to make the smartest decision for them, but also for winning the game tomorrow.”
Curtis Jones remains out for the weekend’s match.
Read more here
Today’s Liverpool FC News
Saudi Arabia’s sports minister has said they “would love to have” Salah – like anybody would do!
Slot was “not surprised” by the comments and declared his intentions, saying: “We want him to extend, of course. That is clear”
Though talk has died down of late, the Liverpool Echo‘s Dave Powell reported FSG “remain committed” to buying another football club and are “willing to wait for the right investment opportunity”
Liverpool Women have signed Chelsea full-back Alejandra Bernabe on loan for the rest of the season – she is 23 years old and has one Spain cap to date
A bit of housekeeping for us all now; if Liverpool reach the League Cup final, they will play their rearranged match against Aston Villa on Wednesday, February 19 at 7.30pm (GMT)
More from This Is Anfield
Ahead of Saturday’s match against an in-form Bournemouth team, Henry Jackson spoke to Cherries fan Tom Jordan from the Back Of The Net podcast about what could lie in wait and who could threaten Liverpool most.
“Antoine Semenyo has been our man to often pop up with moments of magic when in difficult moments.
“Dean Huijsen has stepped up and been imperious for us at the back and Justin Kluivert is our current top scorer who often spearheads our counters in transitions.
“Nobody has struggled, so to speak, because two of our fringe players who expected more minutes, Max Aarons and Philip Billing, have now both been sent out on loan.”
Elsewhere in the football world today
Elsewhere, Celtic have drawn Bayern Munich, while Slot’s team will face one of the winners from Brest vs. PSG and Monaco vs. Benfica – full draw here
Brighton have reportedly rejected a bid of over £75 million from Al-Nassr for Kaoru Mitoma – the same club are also negotiating a deal worth over £64 million for Jhon Duran
Sky Sports report that “Tottenham and Bayern Munich have reached a verbal agreement on a £50 million transfer for Mathys Tel” – the player hasn’t made his mind up yet, though
Liverpool FC: On this day
It is 14 years since Fernando Torres broke our hearts and moved to Chelsea, signing for £50 million on transfer deadline day in 2011.
Prior to that deal, Liverpool bought Luis Suarez for £22.8 million only for him to partner Andy Carroll, not Torres, after the Reds spent a British record £35 million on the 6’3″ centre-forward.
Now 36 years old, Carroll is actually still playing over in France. So far, he has scored eight goals in 13 appearances for Ligue 2 side Bordeaux.
