🔴 Blood Red: Worst Hugo Ekitike fears confirmed, Alexis Mac Allister exit and summer transfer possibilities

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Liverpool are out of the Champions League as a spirited second-half wasn’t enough to see off the challenge of Paris Saint-Germain. Ousmane Dembele continued to be a thorn in the Reds’ side as he scored twice in the second-half to end hopes of another historic comeback.

Arne Slot’s side visit city rivals Everton on Sunday as they look to make it back-to-back wins in the Premier League following the 2-0 win over Fulham last weekend.

Special mention (and thanks) to Phil Downard for spotting a comical error in last week’s newsletter where Steven Gerrard was described as the ‘iconic Liverpool manager’, maybe one day! Of course, I meant iconic Liverpool captain.

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🤕 Hugo Ekitike has ruptured his Achilles tendon after scans revealed the extent of the injury that forced him to be stretchered off against Paris Saint-Germain. The French international will be out for a lengthy period and will miss this summer’s World Cup.

📱 In a post to Instagram, the 23-year-old said:

“It’s hard, maybe even unfair… but I’m grateful this is happening to me here, among you. I’m not alone. Your strength and your love will be my driving force. See you again soon, Anfield.”

🗣 French national team head coach Didier Deschamps described the injury as a “huge blow” for the player and the national team. The World Cup-winning manager added that he is convinced that Ekitike will regain his form.

🔃 Anthony Gordon is keen to explore his options and leave Newcastle United this summer. The former Everton striker has not told the Magpies that he wants to leave but the feeling at St James’ Park is that the winger will look for an exit, a long-term injury to Hugo Ekitike may force Liverpool to sign another forward (The Telegraph).

✖ Liverpool have coveted Anthony Gordon previously but the Reds are not on his or their agenda to sign even after injury to Hugo Ekitike (The Athletic).

🐺 Anfield is Joao Gomes’ preferred destination. Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United lead the race to sign the Wolves midfielder but Merseyside is the Brazilian’s choice (RTI Sports).

🏃‍♂️ David Raum is attracting significant interest from Liverpool. The RB Leipzig captain and Germany international is said to be high on the list of candidates to replace Andy Robertson (TEAMtalk).

⚔ RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande has discussed the bubbling interest with Liverpool among the clubs interested.

He said, via Africa Foot:

“I’m here, and first and foremost, I’m healthy and working hard every day. Hearing these rumours about big clubs like PSG, Chelsea, Liverpool, and others interested in me gives me even more motivation to work. I keep smiling, stay upbeat, and keep pushing forward.”

“My job is on the pitch, and I’m fully committed to my current club. As for the rest, I have a team that takes care of everything; I don’t stress about it. I play for Leipzig and enjoy it.”

🍒 Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi is hoping to agree terms with a new club before the end of the season. Liverpool have not made formal contact but the Argentine was signed by current Reds sporting director Richard Hughes in 2022. Though, any move will depend on Ibrahima Konate who is out of contract at Anfield and yet to sign a deal, despite talk of an extension there has been no breakthrough (talkSPORT).

Liverpool lead the race to sign Marcos Senesi with Anfield the most likely destination. The Reds are ahead of Chelsea and Manchester United in the hunt as they look to add some much-needed fresh faces to their defence (the i Paper).

🗞 Juventus have been touted as a potential destination for Alisson Becker. It has been said that Juve have set their sights on the Brazilian shot-stopper and talks have been positive with his representatives (La Gazzetta dello Sport).

Alisson is likely to remain Liverpool’s number one for one final season unless his head is turned by an offer from elsewhere. The Reds believed they’d signed a long-term successor in Giorgi Mamardashvili but the Georgian has had a mixed season, he is still young in goalkeeping terms but needs to raise the bar (The Athletic).

🐓 Tottenham are in advanced talks to sign Liverpool defender Andy Robertson. The Scotland captain is out of contract at Anfield in the summer and announced he will be leaving the club at the end of the season (BBC Sport).

Robertson admitted he almost left the club last summer but says he will leave Liverpool with an “amazing relationship” despite a new contract not being officially tabled. The 32-year-old insists his focus is on getting Liverpool to where they belong so he can leave the club “in the best place possible” (Liverpool ECHO).

🛡 Liverpool have informed Kostas Tsimikas that he will be the number two left-back next season. The 29-year-old is currently on loan at AS Roma but is expected to return to the Reds at the end of the season (Sport24).

🔥 Liverpool have registered their interest in Hoffenheim forward Bazoumana Toure. The Bundesliga club are aware of it and a summer transfer appears to be likely with Hoffenheim planning to make him their record sale, around £37million (Sky Sports Germany).

🧱 Richard Hughes is not leaving Liverpool this summer, despite interest from Saudi Arabian giants, Al-Hilal. Hughes is committed to seeing through the rebuild at Anfield with owners Fenway Sports Group believing in Michael Edwards and Hughes (talkSPORT).

⬅ A summer departure for Alexis Mac Allister isn’t off the cards. Numerous outlets are reporting that the Argentine could depart this summer as part of the exodus.

There was some sad news on Thursday as former Liverpool goalkeeper Alex Manninger died, in a car accident, aged 48. The Austrian didn’t play competitively for the Reds but provided key experience after arriving in 2016. Rest in peace, Alex.

What could have been on Tuesday night. Liverpool looked good in parts of the first-half but also defensively susceptible in the opening 45. While the second-half was the type of Reds performance that should be the bare minimum.

Ultimately, you can’t expect the magic of Anfield to drag you through every European night, especially after a gutless first-leg where you're trailing by two.

Liverpool had their chances but it was just one of those nights. For performances like that, you can’t really begrudge the showing while the quality of the Parisiens shone through with two moments of class from Ousmane Dembele.

Chances went begging but it does, even now, feel strange that Alexander Isak was named in the starting 11 from the offset. Liverpool didn’t play to his strengths and he was isolated against two very good central defenders. Second-half, you would have imagined that the directness, intensity and creativity would have been something that he would have thrived off.

With the serious injury to Hugo Ekitike, Isak’s minutes will have to be managed more so than ever with Everton, Manchester United and Chelsea to come, three huge matches in the context of Liverpool’s Champions League qualification hopes.

This weekend, it is probably the first time in decades that Liverpool go into a Merseyside derby as underdogs. With Arne Slot’s side, you never know what you’re going to get.

Players talk up encounters but so often this season, they have let down supporters on occasion this season.

Defeat to Everton could derail Liverpool’s season with the prospect of being fatal to the confidence of Slot’s squad.

The performance against Fulham, and the second-half showing against PSG, was positive and a blueprint to build-off. With United, Aston Villa and Chelsea dropping points, Liverpool have a huge opportunity to really lay down the gauntlet in the final month of the season to qualify for the Champions League.

And there would be no better time to start than with a win over Everton.

Meanwhile, speaking to Betfair, Alan Shearer has warned Slot that the noise will intensify with a defeat on Sunday.

“The Merseyside derby will be unbelievable this weekend. I think because of the size of Liverpool it is one of the biggest derbies in world football. Liverpool are a huge football club, as are Everton. But I mean, worldwide, Liverpool clearly are bigger than Everton. I think because of the history, because of what both teams have achieved in the past, yeah, it’s one of the biggest derbies in the world, definitely.

“Everton, without doubt, will fancy their chances, as will David Moyes. You can imagine the Everton players and fans looking at Liverpool coming to their new ground on Sunday. Everton are flying this season. David Moyes has done a wonderful job, and they’ve got a chance of qualifying for Europe. They would take great pleasure in beating Liverpool this weekend to help their cause of getting into Europe.

“They’ll be full of confidence. It’ll be a cracking atmosphere, as they always are both at Anfield and at Everton. So yeah, they’ll fancy their chances because they’ll sense that Liverpool are in trouble and have been for a while, so they’ll want to go and take the points.

“You can imagine how loud the noise will be around Slot if Liverpool were to lose on Sunday. I mean, Slot is under pressure anyway. They’ve had a really disappointing season. Clearly, he doesn’t fancy Mo Salah anymore, because he didn’t play him in Liverpool’s two biggest games of the season in the Champions League. So, you can imagine mentally what that does to Mo albeit he’ll still want to go out on a high. The noise will be really, really loud if Everton beat Liverpool.

“I think, depending on how Everton end the season and depending on how Brentford end the season Moyes has to be in the running for the Premier League manager of the year. I mean, normally, whoever wins the league gets the Manager of the Year, but David Moyes and Keith Andrews, depending how they finish, will be in with a shout, absolutely.”

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Edition number: 40

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