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Liverpool is being linked with a sensational double winter swoop for Antoine Semenyo and Alessandro Bastoni – but the reality is that both players are unlikely to move to Anfield in January.
Big transfers rarely take place during the winter window, and Semenyo has been Bournemouth's most important player so far this season, making it even less likely that the Cherries would allow him to leave midway through the term. The report comes from the notoriously unreliable Spanish website Fichajes, which is enough for the report to be disregarded almost immediately.
Left wing and center-back are two of the positions Liverpool perhaps needs to strengthen most in, and it wouldn't be a surprise were the Reds to move for either player at some point down the line.
But moves in January simply aren't going to happen.
On top of clubs being unwilling to sell their best players during January windows, Liverpool is also coming off a summer window in which it committed over half a billion dollars to new recruits.
Inter Milan center-back Bastoni was also the subject of a recent report by TEAMtalk linking him with a move to Anfield in 2026.
Slightly more feasibly, it's suggested by that outlet that Bastoni is viewed as an alternative summer target to Marc Guehi.
The Crystal Palace captain remains Liverpool's top target after the Reds missed out on signing him on deadline day.
Guehi looks set to leave Palace for free when his contract expires at the end of the season, but Liverpool is expected to face stiff competition for his services next year.
Liverpool effectively had a free run at Guehi earlier this year, but several big European clubs would no doubt view him as an appealing proposition on a free transfer in 2026.
Liverpool is short of options in the center of defense at the moment, with the collapse of Guehi's move coupled with Giovanni Leoni's long-term knee injury leaving the team with just three senior center-backs at the moment.
Those three players are Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez – and there are currently question marks over all three players' futures.
Van Dijk turns 35 next summer, while Konate is set to become a free agent next year, and Liverpool was open to selling Gomez in each of Arne Slot's summers in charge.
Liverpool faces City at the Etihad on Sunday.
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