Liverpool

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Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said his respect for Pep Guardiola and the Manchester City sides that battled Liverpool in some of the Premier League's closest title races has left him reluctant to comment on the fallout from City's financial rules case.

City were found guilty of serious financial breaches by an independent commission on Tuesday, though the club have denied wrongdoing and are expected to appeal, with sanctions yet to be determined.

The 59-year-old, whose Liverpool side twice finished a point behind City, had previously joked that he would attend a parade if Liverpool were retrospectively awarded titles but said he no longer felt that way.

"I haven't given it much thought, even though I've seen it of course," Klopp told reporters on Wednesday.

"I also know what I said about it in the past and how if there's ever a parade I'll be there, but it doesn't feel like that anymore.

"My respect for Pep Guardiola and the football played at City during the time we played against each other... plus what an opponent they proved to be for us at the very highest level is far too great for me to be able to say anything now."

Klopp, who led Liverpool to the Premier League and Champions League titles during his nine-year spell at Anfield before departing in 2024, said he remained comfortable with the club's achievements regardless of any future developments in the City case.

The German added that he would rather allow the process to run its course than speculate about the potential consequences for City.

Aadam Patel
Liverpool reporter

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Liverpool's global talent department - led by Matt Newberry - is responsible for deciding which young talents from overseas should be targeted for a transfer move.

Using their wealth of contacts across the world, including dedicated regional scouts, Liverpool are becoming increasingly aggressive in the space - and it helps that new sporting director Julian Ward is well known for his global network.

After the Under-17s World Cup, Liverpool made a £1m move for Senegalese Mor Talla Ndiaye and a £2.6m move for fellow centre-back half Ifeanyi Ndukwe, who was representing Austria.

Ndukwe, who was impressive in pre-season, has gone on loan to Levante in La Liga as he looks to obtain a UK work permit.

The list does not stop there, though.

Samuel Martinez, a 17-year-old Colombian midfielder, will join next summer after having "30 offers from around the world", external, according to his father.

The moves for Martinez and Ndiaye showcase Liverpool's willingness to spread beyond Europe and into areas they may not have explored before.

This summer, Liverpool also confirmed moves for Belgian goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans and French forward Djylian N'Guessan, both 18 and set to move to Anfield permanently in 2027.

In the modern game, most talents are known and not many hidden gems exist - but Liverpool believe that by digging deeper and wider they can get ahead of the curve, using their global network and their reputation as a club which will help players develop.

Read the full article here

Liverpool have emerged as genuine contenders to sign 24-yearold Brentford and Germany forward Kevin Schade, who has also been linked with Manchester United. (Teamtalk), external

Brighton and Gambia winger Yankuba Minteh, 22, is still keen to join Liverpool after a summer move failed to materialise. (GiveMeSport), external

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Sami Mokbel and Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport

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Bournemouth are not willing to entertain offers for midfielder Alex Scott during the January transfer window.

The 23-year-old made his senior England debut in Wednesday's 2-0 Nations League win away to Czechia but will be into the final 18 months of his contract come January.

The Cherries have had two contract renewal talks rejected before a summer window in which Scott pushed to leave the Vitality Stadium.

However, they remain steadfast that they have warned interested clubs that they will not welcome any contact over a move until their league objectives have either been achieved or are no longer attainable.

Similarly, Bournemouth would not entertain offers for other key players, including striker Eli Junior Kroupi, who remains sidelined through injury, and winger Rayan.

The club are competing on four fronts this season, including their first-ever European campaign in the Europa League.

Scott has performed well on the south coast and shown no signs of discontent but is known to ultimately want to join one of England's biggest clubs.

Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are among the Premier League clubs known to hold an interest in Scott.

Manchester City and Manchester United, meanwhile, strengthened their midfield options during the summer and are not expected to revive their interest.

Chelsea remain keen to sign a midfielder after seeing a £64m bid for Scott rejected during the summer.

They also missed out on Monaco's Lamine Camara on deadline day, held talks over a move for Roma's Manu Kone and expressed an interest in Fulham's Sander Berge.

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola is also thought to have a positive relationship with his former player Scott. The Anfield club are known to be targeting a midfielder in future transfer windows and retain an interest in Camara.

Aadam Patel
Football reporter

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Liverpool may have made three £100m-plus signings over the past two summers in Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola, but internally there is a realisation that a significant amount of young talent was sold last summer.

Since 2020, Liverpool have made more than £230m from selling players who have represented them at youth level. It has been a major part of Fenway Sports Group's self-sustaining business model, with the funds reinvested into the club.

There has been "a premium on young English players" since Brexit - and that's why Liverpool's global talent department - led by Matt Newberry - now have a major role to play.

"The impact of Brexit on the English market is quite significant," Liverpool's academy director Alex Inglethorpe told BBC Sport. "Time will tell if the premium is worthwhile, but it is definitely a change.

"So it is fairly natural for a club like Liverpool to look within Merseyside in the first instance and then broaden that out. National recruitment happens at 14 years old and, after that, you look at global recruitment."

Mor Talla Ndiaye's journey began in the Senegalese village of Sandiara, where he played football in the streets. He progressed through the ranks playing for Bousports Academy before joining Amitie Football Club.

Liverpool fended off interest from other European clubs and signed the 18-year-old for about £1m plus add-ons in January 2026.

Ndiaye, who is a left-footed centre-half, featured in pre-season under Andoni Iraola and was an unused substitute in three games last season under Arne Slot.

"He is an incredible story, isn't he?" said Liverpool Under-21s boss Rob Page. "From where he has come from to where he is now. He is such a humble kid and an unbelievable lad to work with.

"There are exciting times ahead but he has a lot of work to do. He is nowhere near the finished article, but he is on the right path."

Liverpool opened discussions with Ndiaye's academy and agency after scouts spotted his performances at the Under-17 World Cup in Qatar last winter.

After that, video calls were arranged, representatives travelled to Senegal to see where he trained, the vision was presented to him directly and a round-table meeting was organised with his family.

Ultimately, there was optimism regarding Ndiaye and a genuine belief that, if he makes it to the top, it could be one of the great football stories.

Read the full article here

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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The Premier League has opened a Pandora's box of problems which cannot be closed. However well-intentioned, however morally upright they mean to be, the way the product is perceived around the planet by fans will be negatively affected.

This looks like a gigantic mess, but could also become a bit of a joke, especially if they attempt to rewrite history, and change the winners' names on the Premier League and cup trophies over these past 15 years. I wouldn't want the engraver's job.

I believe financial rules brought in to prioritise financial sustainability were also aimed at limiting the money being spent by the clubs, especially the staggering, ever-inflating sums spent on sometimes fairly average players. It could lead to a de facto salary cap, which many fans would approve of.

The long-term problem for the league is easy to see here: if the top players are then offered significantly more money to play elsewhere, they will be off before you can say 'man on'.

I always thought the Premier League had taken a huge risk going down this regulatory road. As with Manchester City's future, nobody knows what the real long-term ramifications will be.

I have a suspicion it could end up being the greatest own goal in the sport's entire history.

The big take: If City are cast out of England's top leagues, what might the owners do – hang around the lower reaches, or find something else? Wasn't there the idea of a Super League? Keep that thought in the back of your mind.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Most of the time it is not that big a deal if you go into the international break having just lost a club game if I am honest, as teams lose games frequently.

That is just the life of a professional footballer. You have to be able to cope with disappointment as an individual and as a team.

‌Admittedly, players will sometimes say that they want another domestic game quickly, but it is almost always specifically after a 'bad' defeat as opposed to just a run-of-the-mill loss.

‌However, if the team has genuinely played terribly, or lost a game they were expected to win comfortably, you will commonly hear the phrase "we want to have a chance to get back out there and put it right quickly".

‌Players who have had a stinker, even if their team won, might also want to get out again as soon as possible to put it right in front of their fans, or 'reset'. The 'reset' argument is just current football jargon to say, "we will try to get it right next time, and we blew it this week, sorry".

‌The international break can also have the beneficial effect of taking your mind away from a bad defeat. This is not to say that you don't care, it is just that you must compartmentalise your thoughts and feelings. Footballers are among the best at this.

‌You simply cannot go to play for your national team and spend the time brooding about what happened against Brentford last week. That way lies madness and another poor performance, only this time in front of the entire nation.

Pat Nevin writes weekly in the Football Extra newsletter. If you're outside the UK and would like to receive it, sign up here.

Real Madrid are considering a move for Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, 35, as the Dutchman will become a free agent at the end of the season. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish), external

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Manchester City arranged "sham contracts" with a number of its commercial partners as part of a scheme to disguise secret funding of more than £830m, the Premier League says.

The League confirmed that City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of Premier League financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

An independent commission found that, during that time period, the club arranged the "sham contracts" as well as "relying on sham agreements to artificially inflate the club's revenues and reduce its costs".

The club continues to deny any wrongdoing and has until Friday to appeal.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: "The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.

"It also vindicates the Premier League's decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.

"It is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the Rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition. It is paramount that the League remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously.

"This disciplinary case, and this decision, are the most significant in Premier League history. There are elements of the case that remain to be decided, including, importantly, what sanction must follow for these breaches. Now we have the Commission's decision, we are committed to moving swiftly through the remainder of the process, to provide certainty for the League, our clubs and fans."

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In this week's edition of BBC Radio Merseyside's Red Kop, the team discuss the impact of Manchester City's financial case and look to their rivals visiting Anfield when the Premier League returns next month.

Presenter Paul Salt said: "If you were Brendan Rodgers, you have an argument to say, 'my Liverpool team would have won the league in 2013-14 and that would have obviously enhanced my reputation as a football manager I may have been given more time to turn it around at Liverpool'.

"There are even players who would have got win bonuses."

If that's not enough, Salt, Carl Woodward and Mike Hughes also chat about the season so far and international injury woes, with Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak affected.

Watch a clip below for more chat around Rodgers' Liverpool team, and listen to the full edition above or on BBC Sounds here

Liverpool remain interested in Real Madrid's France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni - even though the 26-year-old signed a new long-term contract with the La Liga club in the summer. (Teamtalk), external

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BBC Radio Merseyside have continued their series on an 'A to Z' of club legends at Liverpool.

The BBC Sounds series hears from fans, the Radio Merseyside team and key interviews on how significant figures shaped the club.

For Liverpool's letter 'M', Paul Salt, Ian Kennedy and Mike Hughes focus on Terry McDermott, Ronnie Moran and Jan Molby.

Here's a taster from Kennedy on "local lad" McDermott: "He was a fantastic player, and he came from Newcastle.

"He is a local lad from Kirby, and he came back to Liverpool and never looked back really.

"He had this period from 1977-81 where he was one of the best midfielders in the country. He had a tendency of scoring the goal of the season."

Hit play below to hear the first episode in full or listen on BBC Sounds here

Chelsea are monitoring Crystal Palace's England left-back Tyrick Mitchell, 27, but may face competition from Liverpool and Manchester United. (Caught Offside), external

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Liverpool striker Alexander Isak has returned to his club after picking up a minor injury while on international duty with Sweden.

The 27-year-old will not be involved in Sweden's remaining three matches in this international break and will be assessed by his club's medical staff.

He played the full 90 minutes and scored a goal in Sweden's 2-1 win over Romania in the Nations League on Friday.

"He's got a small problem with his thigh. It's not a big one but because of the amount of games we've got in a small space of time, he won't be able to make those," Swedish coach Graham Potter told reporters.

"Not a big one, but frustrating for him, and obviously for us."

Isak has started the season with four goals in five Premier League games for the Reds.

His first season at Liverpool last year - after a £125m move from Newcastle - was hampered by injury and he was limited to 14 Premier League appearances, scoring three goals.

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We asked you to rate Liverpool's start to the season and tell us what Andoni Iraola should be focusing on during this extended international break.

Here are some of your comments:

Johnnie: Solid away from home, fragile at home. Fans need to play their part and make Anfield a fortress. Defence looks sharp with the new additions, the middle looks imbalanced as we persist with Florian Wirtz. He needs to be benched and Ryan Gravenberch start to let Dominik Szoboszlai bomb on. I feel Wirtz may be more effective against tired sides later on, so he gets some confidence back.

Gareth: Let's face it, we were spoiled in Arne Slot's first season. Nobody expected us to win the league with a new manager, particularly when following a club legend. Therefore, this start under Iraola is very typical and totally expected. I think there are good signs and with each game we are shaking off the turgid rubbish that was evident last season. I'm very optimistic.

Ste: A steady, unbeaten start. Iraola is still finding out about players and who will fit into his style of play. Having had a reasonably quiet transfer window, I'm expecting a couple of new signings in the next window.

Joseph: Unbeaten in all competitions. In the right part of the table after five matches and a win against Manchester City would put us three points off top. Nothing to complain about so far. Decent start for Iraola.

Andy: Underperforming. Too many players are not good enough. Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong are both hopeless. Wirtz and Alexander Isak are a bad fit for us. We look better than last season, but the quality of football is very average.

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Liverpool will return from the international break to a "real test", says BBC Radio Merseyside's Chris Coughlin.

The Red Kop team discussed Liverpool's start to the Premier League season and how much more difficult it is going to get for Andoni Iraola's side with the upcoming fixtures.

Coughlin said: "After the international break, Liverpool have Manchester City at home, Brentford away, Brighton at home and Arsenal at home - that four-game run is arguably against the four top teams in the Premier League at the moment and the four most in-form.

"Liverpool are going to have a real test after this break so that's why it's important to go into it off this good run.

"I think eight points is fine [from those four fixtures], because that's two wins and two draws; against good opposition I can see that being a reasonable points tally. I think anything more than eight is a really good return."

Listen to the full edition of Red Kop on BBC Sounds here