Have Liverpool ‘hatched a plan’ for Marc Guehi? Have they balls…

The desperation for Liverpool transfer news is such that some are pretending that a ‘plan’ has been ‘hatched’ for Marc Guehi and there will be a ‘grandstand finish’.

For I’m the ponderer…
It’s fair to say that this transfer window has been disappointing for Liverpool fans, but mostly for those who make a living from reporting on possible Liverpool transfers. And that’s the real quiz.

The only possible solution is to pretend that something really could happen any minute, despite any and all available evidence.

Liverpool transfer state of play as Reds ponder more late moves after Federico Chiesa

That’s the Mirror‘s actual top football story on Thursday morning. Less than 40 hours before the window shuts, they were claiming that the Reds are ‘pondering’ (not sure there’s time to ‘ponder’, guys) ‘more late moves’.

The clue that Chris McKenna’s heart is not in this task is clear from the opening line:

It would be wrong to say Liverpool are finished in the transfer window. But it would also be incorrect to say they’re actively chasing another signing before Friday’s 11pm deadline.

F**ing hell. Somebody didn’t get the memo that you’re supposed to grab people in the first paragraph.

Maybe the second will be better. And tease this ‘pondering’, perhaps…

The £10m (with £2.5m add ons) signing of Federico Chiesa from Juventus is likely to be the Reds’ only signing of this summer for new boss Arne Slot

Oh dear. We’re already out, even before the first advert. And that’s really quite some feat in the Mirror.

TRANSFER FEATURES FROM F365:
👉 What every Premier League club must do before Friday’s transfer deadline
👉 Predicting ten players Premier League clubs will regret selling this summer
👉 Five Prem transfers to save deadline day include Man Utd signing No.6, Branthwaite to Liverpool

Oh happy Guehi
Elsewhere on the Mirror, we’re told that ‘Liverpool hatch Marc Guehi transfer plan in bid to sign Virgil van Dijk replacement’. ‘Hatching plans’ sound like quite a significant step on from ‘pondering’, but of course there’s a catch….

Liverpool will consider a move for Marc Guehi, but not this summer with the Reds reluctant to stump up the £70million fee Crystal Palace are demanding.

‘Will consider’ is quite the step down from ‘hatching a plan’, and it’s rather closer to the original, which was a throw-away line in an Independent story about Newcastle’s stalling deal:

The 24-year-old is a target for Liverpool but not at this price in this window. The Anfield club may instead consider a move if he remains at Palace into next year.

So Liverpool may consider a deal if he remains at Crystal Palace. That’s quite a plan they have hatched.

The Liverpool Echo are more than keen to take up the baton…

Liverpool transfer news LIVE – Done deal, medical scheduled, Salah contract admission, Guehi plan

And that’s their live blog, adorned with an image of Marc Guehi on Thursday morning, complete with this caption:

Liverpool look to have made a big Marc Guehi transfer decision

It’s really quite the ‘big transfer decision’ that they might move for him in January if he is still a Crystal Palace player and if his price comes down. We suspect they might not be the only club with exactly the same ‘plan’.

It’s becoming a Doak
Over at Liverpool.com, the Reach’s US-facing arm of their Liverpool-centric coverage, they are going even further with the tension ahead of deadline day:

Liverpool could still agree 5 transfers before deadline as injury changes plans

That’s a lot. And entirely justifies this opening paragraph:

Liverpool, uncharacteristically, is set for a grandstand finish to the transfer market. Richard Hughes warned early in the summer that business could run later than usual this year, but few would have predicted the scale of the potential scramble as we enter the final few days of the window.

And my word, will we all be hailing a ‘grandstand finish’ if Joe Gomez, Owen Beck, Ben Doak, Stefan Bajcetic and Tyler Morton all leave.

Who needs a plan for Marc Guehi when that ‘potential scramble’ could unfold…

Genius move
Liverpool are of course signing Federico Chiesa and there’s some mileage out of that if you look hard enough…

Liverpool fans think they have figured out where the money to sign Federico Chiesa ‘has come from’ and it’s pure genius

That’s SPORTBible, with their finger on the pulse/X as ever, reporting the giddiness of Liverpool fans after they ‘noticed’ that the sell-on clause on Dominic Solanke was only a few million short of the price paid for Chiesa.

That is ‘pure genius’, apparently. And clearly a lot more interesting than Liverpool selling Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho to create more than enough funds for Chiesa.