🔴 Blood Red: Liverpool sign Victor Munoz, Yan Diomande package readied, Darwin Nunez truth

Good morning and welcome to Friday’s edition of the Blood Red newsletter, brought to you by me, Stephen Killen.

Welcome to the Blood Red newsletter, a free weekly post from me, Stephen Killen, which unpacks and discusses all things Liverpool. If you enjoy this edition but have not yet signed up, consider subscribing to get each newsletter sent directly to your inbox each Friday! Or forward it to a friend who may also enjoy it. Cheers! 🗞

We are back, I’m sorry if you missed last week’s edition as the Andoni Iraola news took over my annual leave, it only felt right to let the dust settle.

And boy, has it settled! Liverpool are on the verge of making their first signing in Victor Munoz while the World Cup is underway and the Reds are being represented.

Before we start, please subscribe, it’s free.

📆 The Premier League fixtures will be released today at 10am. We will be posting the schedule on Notes shortly after they are announced but make sure to keep across the Liverpool ECHO - Liverpool pages.

✍ Liverpool beat four clubs to the signing of Victor Munoz. The Reds have gazumped Newcastle United again to land the signature of the 22-year-old from Osasuna on a six-year deal (Liverpool ECHO).

💰 The Reds have triggered the winger’s £34.5million release clause, with 50 per cent due to Real Madrid, who sold the player last summer. New head coach Andoni Iraola a driving force behind the move (Liverpool ECHO).

🩺 Medicals took place in Chattanooga, Tennesse on Wednesday with permission of the Spanish Football Federation. Club medics flew over to the US, where Munoz is part of the Spain World Cup squad (The Times).

📰 Liverpool will sign another forward this summer, in addition to Munoz. There is an optimism that they can land Yan Diomande but with competition from Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig’s asking price, there are other targets (Ben Jacobs).

🧨 Liverpool have intensified their pursuit of Yan Diomande, expressing a willingness to table a package approaching €100million (£86m). PSG remain in contention but it has been said that they are behind the Reds in the race and therefore, Andoni Iraola’s side are in the driving seat (The Athletic).

🏃‍♂️ Alternatives include Said El Mala from Koln, Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh, Matias Fernadez-Pardon of Lille and Bradley Barcola (Ben Jacobs).

🤺 On Bradley Barcola, Arsenal are looking into lodging a bid for the PSG winger. The Frenchman has been highlighted as a target that could upgrade Mikel Arteta’s starting line-up, while the Ligue 1 side want to keep him, they are open to reshaping their front-line (Independent).

🛡 Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi stood out in their 1-1 draw with Brazil and at the tender age of 18, he is being courted by some of Europe’s elite with Liverpool mooted. The Reds and Arsenal had meeting with his agent with Lille wanting around £60million (Fabrizio Romano).

🦸‍♂️ Juventus are reportedly keen on re-signing Federico Chiesa. However, the dismissal of Arne Slot is said to have changed the Italian’s thinking as he wants to stay at Anfield and fight for a starting berth (TuttoJuve).

🔒 Ibrahima Konate has completed his free transfer to Real Madrid. The France defender has signed a four-year deal, reuniting with former Liverpool teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold.

🤔 Right-back is a pressing area for Liverpool with Conor Bradley recovering from a knee injury and Jeremie Frimpong enduring a difficult debut campaign. A central defender is not a priority at the moment but Liverpool could revist their stance due to Jeremey Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni’s lack of Premier League experience (Sky Sports).

😲 Darwin Nunez will return to Liverpool, however it won’t be made official until after the World Cup with the Uruguayan focusing on the competition (Juan Pablo Romero). But James Pearce has dismissed the reports surrounding a sensational return for the captain of chaos.

🤕 Hugo Ekitike is eyeing a return for December 2026 for Liverpool’s Premier League Boxing Day fixtures. Medical reports from experts within the Reds is said to be positive with Ekitike working on upper body trength so he doesn’t have too much of a lag when the supportive boot comes off (L’Equipe).

Andy Robertson is a Liverpool player for another couple weeks, it doesn’t matter if he is set to join Tottenham Hotspur, he will feature in the World Cup round-up. The left-back captained the Tartan Army as they got off to a winning start with a historic 1-0 triumph over Haiti, Aston Villa’s John McGinn the scorer.

Next match: Morocco - June 19.

Florian Wirtz showcased some of his best qualities as Germany put minnow Curacao to the sword with a 7-1 win. The Liverpool playmaker provided an assist for Felix Nmecha’s opener.

Next match - Ivory Coast - June 20.

Alexander Isak made a goalscoring return to competitive action as Sweden picked up a win in their group opener against Tunisia. The 26-year-old scored and assisted Viktor Gyokeres in their 4-1 win. However, local reports suggest he embarked on individual training after 90-minute run out and could miss the upcoming clash with Holland.

Next match - Holland - June 20.

Virgil van Dijk continued his brilliant goalscoring season with the opener in a 2-2 draw with Japan. He nodded home a delightful cross from Ryan Gravenberch but it wasn’t enough as they had to settle for a point. Cody Gakpo managed 84 minutes.

Next match - Sweden - June 20.

Mohamed Salah couldn’t mark his birthday with a win as Egypt faced Belgium in their group opener. The Egyptian King did provide an assist for Emam Ashour’s goal but a Mohamed Hany own-goal forced them to settle for a point.

Next match - New Zealand - June 22.

Incoming Liverpool winger Victor Munoz was an unused substitute as Spain were held to a draw by Cape Verde. Liverpool supporters will be watching with intent regarding La Roja’s progress throughout this World Cup. He did score on his Spain debut against Serbia in March.

Next match - Saudi Arabia - June 21.

Alexis Mac Allister started for Argentina as Lionel Messi made history with a hat-trick in their 3-0 win over Algeria. The midfielder forced a goal when his stinging effort was spilled by Luca Zidane.

Next match - Austria - June 22.

You might already know Blood Red from our podcast. Listen to the latest episode below.

💬 REMEMBER TO HAVE YOUR SAY

We have now opened up a contact form where you can share your comments, thoughts and ask any questions or request what goes into the newsletter every week.

We already have good discussions in our comment section every week, thank you for adding your thoughts, but you can now do it via our forms too.

All you have to do is click here, fill in each part of the form and we will get back to you.

You can also still leave a comment🔽

Every Friday, the Blood Red newsletter will bring you insight, news and everything in between. If you have any topics to discuss, get involved in the comments, reply to this email or you can email me, stephen.killen@reachplc.com and I will take on board your feedback or questions.

Here at Blood Red, I want to make the experience of following Liverpool FC as stress-free as possible.

By subscribing to Blood Red, I’ll send you the best written, audio and visual Liverpool content straight to your inbox every Friday morning.

All you have to do is subscribe, and I’ll do the rest!

🔴 Thank you for subscribing to and reading Blood Red. Don’t forget to subscribe to follow all the latest news from Anfield.

🔴 Don’t forget to leave your comments with suggestions for content you want to see. And if you notice something that I might have missed, don’t hesitate to let me know.

Edition number: 49

Subscriber count: 1,793