Liverpool may need to repeat its moves for Thiago and Diogo Jota as the exits of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson give Reds manager Jürgen Klopp little choice.
This time 12 months ago, Liverpool thought it had its summer business all wrapped up. Young Scottish right-back Calvin Ramsay, through the door on June 19, was supposed to be the final signing of the summer.
The Reds had confirmed a deal to sign young midfielder Fábio Carvalho even before the season had finished, and then sealed a potential club-record transfer for striker Darwin Núñez midway through next month.
As it turned out, a poor start to the season caused the Reds to panic, and they wound up scrambling for a much-needed midfield addition on deadline day before settling on a season-long loan move for Juventus’ Arthur.
This year, Liverpool was looking well-placed to avoid any such dramas. Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai were both announced as new signings by July 1, which gave the club six weeks to add the finishing touches to a measured but impressive refresh.
But then there was a seismic development as first Fabinho, and then Jordan Henderson, both received interest from Saudi Pro League clubs — interest that led to offers, offers that led to requests for the transfers to be permitted, and eventually agreements over a fee. In a turn of events almost nobody expected, Jürgen Klopp is about to lose two of his stalwarts.
And now, with less than three weeks remaining before the Reds head to Chelsea to kick off the new season, they may have at least three more vacancies to fill, two in midfield and one in the center of defense.
It’s probably unrealistic to expect that the club is able to complete its suddenly-lengthened to-do list in the space of 20 days, particularly amid the frustratingly protracted departures of Fabinho and Henderson.
As such, the club has effectively been left with little choice but to part from the norm of the Klopp era. Before this year, the German had overseen seven summer transfer windows, and in four of those, he’d got all of his business done well in advance of the season starting.
Right now, Liverpool looks set for a repeat of the pandemic-hit 2020 transfer window, when it formally recruited midfielder Thiago on September 18 and forward Diogo Jota the very next day, a week or so after the Reds had kicked off the new season with a 4-3 victory over Leeds United.