RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 10: Ismaila Sarr of Palace in action during the 2025 FA Community Shield match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on August 10, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images) | The FA via Getty Images
When you sell Luis Diaz, fail to replace him then spend the entire 2025-26 season struggling due to a lack of pace on the wings, then push Mohamed Salah out of the club because his legs are going and goal involvement numbers have dropped to one every 140 minutes and you no longer see his contract as good value, well, you probably need to sign wingers.
That was the situation for Liverpool and sporting director Richard Hughes at the start of the summer. With a week left in the transfer window and new head coach Andoni Iraola kicking off the season against Newcastle on Sunday with a weaker squad than Arne Slot ended last season with, the Reds still need wingers, plural, along with their so-called Salah replacement.
Which is to say that Liverpool are desperate. And everyone knows it. So. Well done, Richard, good process.
Hughes is struggling to get marquee signing Bradley Barcola across the line, and he’s also struggling to get in the second winger the Reds need. On that front, first up was Ibrahim Mbaye. When that stalled out, Yankuba Minteh was the next. When Brighton demanded £80M for him, the question became who might come after that failure. The answer is Ismaïla Sarr.
Or at least that’s what the rumour mongers have spit out today . The Crystal Palace winger had been targeted by Galatasaray this summer, but while the Turkish club making a pair of bids they weren’t willing to go above €30M (£26M) and Palace were expected to keep him for the coming season.
The chatter has Liverpool coming in offering around double that and willing to pay at least £50M (€58M) to get the deal done. Word from the Palace end is that regardless if they would accept that fee—and it’s not entirely clear at the moment if they would—they would still want a replacement lined up before signing off on Sarr’s departure, which could be difficult.
In addition to Liverpool being held to ransom by clubs knowing they’re desperate, this is another potential problem caused by leaving it late, as for many potential selling clubs even a fee that’s over the odds will be less helpful heading into the season than simply keeping the player if there’s no time to realistically source a suitable replacement.
Well done, Richard, good process.
As for Sarr, Liverpool have been linked off and on with Sadio Mané’s Senegalese compatriot back to when Mané was still at the club. As such, the right winger is now 28 years old, making him the same age today as Luis Diaz was last summer when Liverpool and sporting director Richard Hughes decided it would be unwise to give the Colombian a lucrative new deal that would have kept him happy at the club.
Hughes then failed to replace Diaz—who then had an outstanding season at Bayern Munich—failed to bring in multiple wing options this summer, and is now at the stage where the club is in such need of correcting his past mistakes that they’re willing to spend big on a prime age player with no further upside or resale value.
Well done, Richard, good process.
If there is an upside to signing Sarr, it would be that he’s capable of playing across the front line but is most comfortable on the right where Liverpool most need reinforcements. His 21 goals and two assists last season with a goal involvement every 157 minutes is also a solid return.
However, it’s a worse return than Diaz had in his final year at the club, it’s a worse return than Mohamed Salah had last season, and it’s a worse return than Cody Gakpo has had for Liverpool up until last season. All of which is to say Liverpool would be stronger today if Richard Hughes had just done nothing and kept Diaz and Salah than they will be if he now manages to sign Sarr.
Well done, Richard. Good fucking process.
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