Liverpool want PSG pair and Brentford, Crystal Palace stars as next four Iraola signings after Munoz
Liverpool have flexed their Big Six muscles and pinched Osasuna’s Victor Munoz from under the nose of the incessantly hijacked Newcastle as their first signing of the Andoni Iraola era. Who’s next? There are four more signings in the pipeline.
While the penny-pinching Magpies haggled to reduce his transfer fee, the Reds agreed to pay Munoz’s £34.5m release clause in full, also fending off interest from Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester United to land the 22-year-old after Real Madrid opted not to bring him back to the Bernabeu while welcoming a 50 per cent sell-on fee.
While Fabrizio Romano has confirmed ‘there’s NO buy back clause for Real Madrid in Víctor Munoz to Liverpool deal’, the La Liga giants do ‘have right of first refusal in case of future proposals’.
After six goals and two assists in his only season of top flight football, Munoz is a signing with potential rather than a ready-made addition, albeit as a full Spain international with one goal across two caps; currently in North America with the European champions for the World Cup.
He’s a right-footed forward who has played in all positions across Osasuna’s front three, though chiefly from the left wing, so is likely to be rivalling Cody Gakpo (if the Netherlands international remains at Anfield) and Rio Ngumoha for a place in Iraola’s starting XI.
Hugo Ekitike is another option for what is now a stacked left flank, particularly in comparison to the right.
Club legend Mohamed Salah has had his contract ripped up and looks set for a move to either Turkey or Saudi Arabia. And although reports suggest Federico Chiesa may have changed his tune and now wants to stay at Anfield with Arne Slot now not around to deny him football, Iraola is unlikely to see the Italian as a reliable fixture in his team or even his squad after two seasons of distinctly average performances when he has taken to the field.
As widely reported, they’re interested in Yan Diomande and have taken strides to sign the RB Leipzig winger, offering ‘important money’, according to Romano; likely around the Bundesliga side’s £100m asking price.
Paris Saint-Germain are lurking as Diomande’s ‘dream’ summer move and a neat solution has emerged given the Ligue 1 side’s hesitancy stems from their being no space in the squad to accommodate the 19-year-old.
Liverpool are also interested in Bradley Barcola, who’s grown frustrated over being snubbed for the biggest games by PSG boss Luis Enrique – he didn’t start any of the Champions League games after the last 16. The departure of Barcola – thought to be valued by PSG at around the £80m mark – would open the door for the champions of Europe to move for Diomande.
Transfer expert Ben Jacobs has revealed on X that Koln’s Said El Mala, Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh and Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo are ‘also on the list’ for Liverpool, with ‘pace the key critieria’ for Iraola and sporting director Richard Hughes.
Sources have told Football Insider that Liverpool ‘are also pursuing a central midfielder, a centre-back and a right-back’ this summer.
Ibrahima Konate has joined Real Madrid on a free transfer, meaning Iraola has Giovanni Leoni, who signed from Parma for £26m last summer before picking up a season-ending injury, or £60m January signing Jeremy Jacquet as options to pair with veteran centre-back Virgil van Dijk.
Ilya Zabarnyi, who played under Iraola at Bournemouth before joining PSG for £57m, is on their radar. The Ukrainian started 26 Ligue 1 games last term but played featured for just 15 minutes across the Champions League knockout stages, and a report claims the Reds have ‘held talks’ with the 23-year-old’s representatives to sound out a move.
Liverpool have been denied the signing of Denzel Dumfries as their new right-back after Real Madrid triggered his Inter Milan release clause.
Rumours over moves for alternatives have been thin on the ground, though they are admirers of Brentford’s Michael Kayode, who was signed from Fiorentina for £15m in the summer and is now valued at around £40m by the Bees.
The 21-year-old would offer a very different profile to both Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley for Iraola, perhaps more in line with the ever-increasing physicality of the Premier League.
In midfield, amid doubts over the futures of Curtis Jones and Alexis Mac Allister, Alex Scott is among the targets – an obvious one having thrived under Iraola last season – but our friends at TEAMtalk have confirmed that Liverpool could act on their long-term interest in Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton.
Nottingham Forest wanting £125m from Manchester City for Elliot Anderson has reportedly emboldened Palace to slap a £100m fee on their prized midfield asset.
The Iraola rebuild won’t come cheap. That’s £277m combined for Barcola, Zabarnyi, Kayode and Wharton after a £450m spend last summer. But it’s one Hughes and FSG will deem necessary to smooth the transition from attritional Slot-ball to the heavy-metal adjacent style of Iraola.
