Managing Liverpool as 4 players follow Luis Diaz out of exit door and 5 stay

It’s already been a hectic transfer window for Liverpool, and there’s no sign of it quietening down anytime soon.

The Reds have already welcomed seven new signings this summer, and there’s every chance more will be on the way, including another potential record signing.

Speculation continues to grow around Alexander Isak, who has told Newcastle he wants to leave, and Anfield looks as though it might be his chosen destination. While a deal for the striker might still be on the cards, Arne Slot and Richard Hughes also need to be looking at getting some players out and, more importantly, getting some money in.

They’ve already started that process, with Luis Diaz now on the verge of completing a move to Bayern Munich. The Colombian is set to undergo a medical in Germany later, with Liverpool receiving around $87 million.

That will go a long way to offsetting the big spending on the likes of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Milos Kerkez so far this summer, but how much further should Liverpool go?

We’ve taken a look at some of the players being linked with a move this summer, and decided who Liverpool should keep, and who should go…

Keep

At this point, we can probably rule out moves for Andy Robertson or Joe Gomez. The former’s links to Atletico Madrid seem to have gone cold now, and thankfully so as he still has an important part to play next season - especially if he is made vice-captain.

Gomez, meanwhile, might have been considered as a potential departure before Jarell Quansah’s move to Bayer Leverkusen was finalized. Now, even with injury problems flaring up once again, Liverpool just can’t afford to let another center-back go.

Diaz’s move hopefully puts to bed any suggestions of Cody Gakpo leaving - especially since he was also being linked with Bayern. In any case, there’s no way Liverpool should consider letting the Dutchman go.

And then we come on to the more contentious decisions in this list. Ben Doak has perhaps been surpassed by Rio Ngumoha now as the exciting youngster expected to light up Liverpool’s frontline in the future, but the Scotland international perhaps deserves another year to prove himself, albeit a loan move is perhaps best for him again.

As for Harvey Elliott, it’s hard to see how he really gets game time now, especially with Wirtz arriving, but given he does offer another option from the right, he might just be worth holding onto for another year, although you couldn’t blame him if he pushed for an exit.

Sell

Assuming Liverpool is going to sign a new center-back - and there really is no excuse for it not to - then there’s just no need for it to go into the new season with three left-backs.

Therefore, Kostas Tsimikas is the one to make way. The Greek has never managed to overhaul Robertson in the pecking order, and with Kerkez now on board, there really just doesn’t look to be much of an opportunity for him now.

Likewise, the time feels right for Tyler Morton to move on. He has already attracted plenty of attention over the past year or so, and it seems unlikely he will be able to dethrone the likes of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai or Curtis Jones anytime soon.

Federico Chiesa’s departure feels somewhat inevitable at this point. The player that lit up Euro 2020 feels like a distant memory at this point, and Liverpool just needs to cut its losses and let him return to Italy if he wants the move - we can’t have another season of him trying to build up his fitness for a handful of appearances.

Finally, we come to a player who seemed certain to leave at the end of last season, but now his situation may have become a little more complicated.

An exit still feels like the right call for Darwin Nunez, given his three years at Anfield haven’t gone the way many hoped after his big-money move from Benfica. Four goals in two appearances in pre-season have caused one or two supporters to reconsider, but we do need to bear in mind they came against Championship opposition.

With Diaz gone and Chiesa looking set to follow though, Liverpool does face being left with limited options in the frontline, which makes the idea of keeping Nunez a little more appealing.

If - and it is admittedly a big if - Isak is going to make his way to Anfield though, it makes more sense for the Uruguayan to move on. We may find out whether that is the case sooner rather than later.

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