Liverpool are considering offers for forwards Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi in the next two days as they are set to announce the Luiz Diaz deal on Saturday. Last week Reds ejected offers for both Minamino and Origi as they were short on attacking options. Both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are on national duty with the Africa Cup of Nations 2022 tournament.
Premier League giants are close to announcing high profile Luiz Diaz signing on Saturday and now looking to offload backup options at Anfield. Liverpool are mounting a title challenge this season with Manchester City and signing Diaz certainly boost their chances. But they need to sell a few of their fringe players to keeps the finances in balance. Joe Gomez, Nat Philips, Takumi Minamino, and Divock Origi are all linked with a possible away move this month but Liverpool were reluctant to offload them.
This week Liverpool rejected Aston Villa’s approach for centre-back Joe Gomez, who is struggling for regular game time this season. Manager Jurgen Klopp is keen on keeping the English defender at Anfield and informed his decision to Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard. The Villans then eventually signed another English defender Callum Chambers from Arsenal yesterday for an undisclosed fee.
Liverpool To Accept Offers For Origi And Minamino:
But now the Athletic reports that Liverpool are open to entertaining offers for Origi and Minamino who are respectively linked with Newcastle United and AS Monaco. The 26-year-old Belgian striker has just six months remaining on his contract and the Reds have decided not to extend his contract. Origi arrived at Anfield from French giants LOSC Lille in 2014 but has made only 167 appearances so far. He never settled as a primary striker for former manager Brendan Rodgers current manager Jurgen Klopp but has scored some memorable late goals over the years.
Serie A giants Atalanta are also keeping tabs on Origi, who is valued at just £7 million, but face tough competition from Newcastle United. The Magpies are looking for another striker to provide competition for Callum Wilson and new arrival Chris Wood. Liverpool rejected their first offer for Origi last week but are now willing to reconsider that.
The 27-year-old Japanese winger arrived as a rotational option for Salah and Mane at Liverpool and has done an excellent job so far. The versatile forward showed his quality whenever he was called upon with 10 goals in 49 matches at Anfield. But now Liverpool are looking to accept any offer for former RB Salzburg star who is valued at around £20 million by the Reds.
Liverpool are also looking to sell defenders, Nat Phillips and Neco Williams, most probably on loan before this window shuts down on Monday midnight. Watford and Newcastle United had previously seen their bid rejected for Phillips this month but the arrival of Diaz changes everything with Liverpool’s transfer policy for the next two days. But the Reds will not be negotiating any deal for lower transfer fees as they are well balanced financially despite spending £50 million on Luiz Diaz.