Good morning and welcome to Friday’s edition of the Blood Red newsletter, brought to you by me, Stephen Killen.
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Once more, apologies. The hysteria of school’s breaking up meant I’d completely lost track of my weeks. I rare boob of mine, some would argue otherwise.
Liverpool are back in action this weekend as pre-season gets underway.
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📦 Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been approached to join a consortium in talks to buy a stake in Liverpool. The American tycoon held discussions over joining a syndicate of investors led by Amit Bhatia (Sky News).
🤑 Bhatia, son-in-law of billionaire steel supremo Lakshmi Mittal, entered talks with Fenway Sports Group over a minority shareholding in the club. The Reds have been open to a partial sale or a full sale since 2022 – similar to the agreement with Dynasty Equity which was worth between £82million and £164million (Liverpool ECHO).
🔴 It was cautioned that Bezos was not certain to proceed with an investment in the Reds. The talks with the Bhatia-led consortium could see them buy as much as 30 percent in Liverpool (Sky News).
🔴 Bezos would receive equity in Liverpool, if any deal was struck. The Bhatia bid is understood to be around £4.5billion with the investor believed to have secured backing from his father-in-law, whose family wealth is estimated to be around £23billion (The Guardian).
In a statement to the Liverpool ECHO, FSG said:
“An investment consortium led, managed and represented by Amit Bhatia has expressed interest in making a strategic minority investment in Liverpool Football Club.”
🇫🇷 Liverpool made an enquiry to AS Monaco for Maghnes Akliouche. The Reds checked the availability of the 24-year-old winger, who has been the subject of interest from Paris Saint-Germain (Sky Sports).
Liverpool contacted the Ligue 1 side while assessing the market for wide players to check Akliouche’s availability. A shortlist has been drawn up which includes Bradley Barcola, Martias Fernandez-Pardo and Said El Mala (Liverpool ECHO).
🥤 The 20-time English champions are showing the most concrete interest in Barcola. Barcelona are not interest and a Liverpool deal depends on the conditions for an exit set by PSG (Fabrizio Romano).
Andoni Iraola continued with his message to the Liverpool hierarchy as he outlined the need for a winger.
He said:
“It is difficult to say a number when the market is open. You have to be always open to new options to improve the squad. There are obvious situations where we know we need to sign players.
“Winger, for example. We definitely need to sign a winger. The other situations, we will have to analyse what the market gives you, what the cost is, how we also see the players we have.
“We have some tricky positions where we have injured players that we trust that are not in the ideal situation.”
The Liverpool ECHO’s man on the ground is Paul Gorst. Make sure you keep an eye on what he’s up to via the Liverpool FC ECHO Facebook page but also what is being published online.
🤩 Dominik Szoboszlai signed a new long-term contract at Liverpool. Andoni Iraola’s style of play helped play a role in the decision for him to remain on Merseyside (WinWinAll Sports).
😕 Curtis Jones’ future remains uncertain as Inter hold a strong interest in the midfielder. The Italian side has had two bids rejected, but with his contract expiring next summer, he is at a crossroads, and Liverpool risks losing another valuable player for nothing (The Athletic).
🇦🇷 Alexis Mac Allister was said to have called time on his Liverpool career and eyed a move away from Anfield. However, his father Carlos has firmly denied claims that Real Madrid are ready to move for the Argentine.
Iraola expressed his intent and desire to keep the World Cup runner-up. The Basque praised Mac Allister’s performance in the tournament, as Argentina’s defence came to an end in the final losing 1-0 to Spain, as he claimed he is “looking forward more to signing new players rather than losing the ones” he has at his disposal.
🏆 Liverpool expressed an interest in Spain World Cup hero Ferran Torres. The 26-year-old scored an extra-time winner for La Roja in the win over Argentina an the Reds are said to have enquiried about the conditions of a sale, Barca look set to offload the forward to avoid paying Man City (Tanzi Loic via Get French Football News).
✍️ Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign highly-rated 17-year-old Samuel Martinez. The Colombian will return to Nacional and join the academy ranks for the 2027-28 season (LFC).
🪵 👨 Liverpool goalkeeper Freddie Woodman has signed a new deal, keeping him at the club until 2029. The former Preston North End shot-stopper became a cult hero after his stint in goal during the Reds’ injury crisis last season, making four appearances.
🛑 Paris Saint-Germain defender Illia Zabarnyi has been offered to Liverpool. The former Bournemouth stopper could reunite with Iraola, following their time together at the Cherries, as suggestions are that the Ukranian is unhappy in France (talkSPORT).
🧤 Following the departure of Liverpool goalkeeper coach Xavi Valero, Liverpool have appointed Alejandro Rosalen. He was in charge of training Napoli’s shot-stoppers from 2021 until this summer and was apart of the backroom staff which won two Serie A titles (LFC).
🔄 Armin Pesci and Amara Nallo were among the notable absentees from Liverpool’s 31-man squad that travelled to Chicago for the next stretch of the pre-season tour. Pesci and Nallo completed loan moves to TSV Hartberg and HJK Helsinki respectively.
Initial Liverpool squad for US🧤 A tour: Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo, Jeremy Jacquet, Milos Kerkez, Dominik Szoboszlai, Conor Bradley, Federico Chiesa, Giovanni Leoni, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Kostas Tsimikas, Hugo Ekitike, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Freddie Woodman, Jeremie Frimpong, Josh Abe, Trey Nyoni, Stefan Bajcetic, Luke Chambers, Calvin Ramsay, Callum Scanlon, James McConnell, Vitezslav Jaros, Lewis Koumas, Kieran Morrison, Rio Ngumoha, Will Wright, Bailey Hall, Josh Sonni-Lambie, Ifeanyi Ndukwe, Harvey Davies.
🛬 Ryan Gravenberch, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak will link up with their Liverpool teammates and the new head coach on Monday (July 27). Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo are on a similar timetable but will begin their pre-season preparations on Merseyside, therefore linking up with their teammates upon the conclusion of the America-stretch of the tour.
Iraola said:
“They will, in terms of dates of training, be very similar but they will start training at the AXA in Liverpool.
“Because of different reasons, especially Virgil because he has been the player with most minutes in Europe I would say, and Cody for other reasons.
“They are going to start training basically in the same week as the others but instead of making them come here with the team, we considered that it was sensible with them to start the first week training with a small group or even with younger players that are at the AXA and join us when we [return].”
🚪 Liverpool’s pre-season preparations will see them face Como 1907 in a behind closed doors friendly. The clash will be played in the early afternoon before their showdown at Anfield at 6pm.
⬅️ Kyle Kelly has joined non-league side Forest Green Rovers on loan. Tommy Pilling is set to make a permanent move to MFK Zemplin Michalovce in Slovakia (Liverpool ECHO).
❤️ Liverpool legend Kevin Keegan sadly passed away this week following a battle with cancer. The former Reds number seven made 323 appearances scoring 100 goals for the club. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this sad time, may he rest in peace.
Last game: Liverpool 1-1 Brentford (Sunday, May 24)
Next game: Liverpool vs Sunderland (Saturday, July 25)
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Edition number: 53
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