Liverpool FC: 26 players to keep and 12 who can leave
Outside the FA Cup, outside the Carabao Cup, tenth in the Premier League.
With 18 games and 11 points behind the top four, a Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid is likely Liverpool’s only hope of salvaging the 2022/23 season.
It’s a sad fact, but one that – to look for the positive – can lead to a team overhaul that may have been needed for a while. With six players out of contract and two starters entering the last 12 months at the end of the season, as well as question marks for many others, a reshuffle could take place.
Here, let’s see which players should stay and who should leave
For all the talk of this team going overboard, more and more key players can be seen as such for both the present and the future. Liverpool have turned out Ibrahima Konate, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Cody Jacobo and Darwin Nunez on big contracts in recent years and are looking to be key players in the future.
Many players have been first choice in the successful years under Jurgen Klopp so far, including Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson as well. Robertson’s role may diminish as the season goes on, as the Scotsman turns 29 in March, but he remains an important player and one of the best left-backs in Europe.
If possible, Liverpool should look to retain the service of Caoimhin Kelleher, both as Alisson’s long-term successor as well as an important domestic player alongside Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott. Calvin Ramsey is yet to leave following his move from Aberdeen last summer, but he is clearly one of the signatories to a project that will have time to develop.
Then there are the youngsters around them that Klopp and his crew can build, and Stefan Bagcetic is now leading them. Of course, it will be difficult to predict who will rise to the top forever, but Ben Doc has shown strong signs from the start and had high hopes for Bobby Clarke and Kaede Gordon.
Marcelo Petaluga and Harvey Davies can provide home-grown goalkeeper options and are trained from a young age to match the required technique.
