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Liverpool fans might be in the rare position of being glad to see the international break arriving, with their side having gone through a nightmare week.
The Reds fell to a third consecutive defeat at Chelsea on Saturday, and now Arne Slot's side finds itself a point behind Arsenal in the race for this season's Premier League title - albeit, there is still a long way to go, with only seven games having been played so far.
There's no doubt though that Liverpool needs to improve on its recent showings, and Slot and Richard Hughes might be looking at some potential January signings if things don't improve sooner rather than later.
Here is the Liverpool.com verdict on the transfer gossip to emerge around the Reds today.
Michael Olise (Bayern Munich)
Liverpool is preparing to break the Premier League transfer record again for Michael Olise, according to Fichajes. The Reds already broke it twice during the 2025 summer window with Florian Wirtz and then Alexander Isak, but it’s claimed they’re willing to do it all over again for the Bayern Munich star.
It’s suggested that Liverpool is willing to offer close to $176 million (€150M) for Olise next summer, with the club eyeing up a long-term replacement for Mohamed Salah. Chelsea and Manchester City have also shown interest though, while Bayern is said to be negotiating a new contract to ward off any potential bids.
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Liverpool.com says: If Liverpool is going to sign Olise, then chances are it's going to take a big offer to convince Bayern. He's 23, under contract until 2029, and had a superb first season in Munich - you're never going to let that go cheaply.
It does seem as though the Reds have already started the process of moving away from Salah as their main creative outlet - albeit it doesn't seem to be going all that well at the moment. Still, that does mean they'll have to start looking at long-term replacements, and will perhaps need to get one in as soon as next summer.
Sven Botman (Newcastle)
Newcastle’s Sven Botman is among a four-man list Liverpool has drawn up of potential alternatives to Marc Guehi, according to talkSPORT. Internal discussions are said to be taking place over whether another center-back is needed in January, with four names already said to be ranking highly for the Reds.
As well as Botman, Willian Pacho, Zeno Debast and Ousmane Diomande are all said to have scored strongly in Liverpool’s data-driven approach during the summer, although it remains to be seen whether any of those players would become genuine targets in 2026.
Newcastle doesn’t want to sell Botman, it’s claimed, while Pacho is under contract until 2029 at Paris Saint-Germain. Sporting CP’s Debast has been linked with Manchester United, but the Portuguese club could be open to offers below Diomande’s $94M (€80M) release clause, with his contract set to expire in 2027.
Liverpool.com says: Let's hope those discussions are going to continue over the international break, because if the last few games have proved anything, it's that Liverpool needs to get another center-back in as soon as possible.
Ibrahima Konate has been really poor so far this season, which would be reason enough to be looking at alternative options. Add to that the fact he might be injured now, and Liverpool could be in real danger of walking into a defensive crisis unless it gets someone in during the January window.
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