Liverpool FC news recap: Worrying Alonso update, big return

Here's our Liverpool FC news update for Wednesday, 6th March 2024. The Reds received a worrying update on Xabi Alonso.

Liverpool face Sparta Prague on Thursday, so there was plenty of buildup ahead of that. The Reds will continue their Europa League campaign - the sole competition Jurgen Klopp hasn't won as boss.

He'll leave in the summer, of course, and Liverpool's first-choice replacement is Xabi Alonso. Wednesday saw a worrying report on that front, however.

And former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has been talking to the press. He made a difficult admission as he talked up the current team.

Here's our Liverpool FC news roundup.

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Mo Salah back in training

Mohamed Salah is back in training with Liverpool. The Egyptian was seen at the Reds' open training session on Wednesday.

Liverpool held an open training session on Wednesday ahead of their return to the Europa League this week. And there was one massively positive update - Mohamed Salah was there.

Salah has only been available for two games in 2024, with the first on New Year's Day. Since then, Liverpool have only had him available for 46 minutes against Brentford last month.

The Egyptian has struggled with injury since leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations, ruling him out of the Reds' last few fixtures. Of course, that came at the same time that several other first-team stars were out of action through injury.

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Bayern lead Alonso race

Liverpool have received a worrying update on Xabi Alonso by two journalists. The Reds have the Spaniard at the top of their shortlist.

Florian Plettenberg has reported that Bayern Munich now have the best chance at hiring Xabi Alonso this summer, rather than Liverpool. It appears that the entire management at Bayern are behind the idea of Alonso and are all moving quickly to get him.

Worryingly, this is backed up by Gianluca Di Marzio, who has heard the same thing.

"News [on] Alonso: [Di Marzio] confirms our exclusive news that FC Bayern - at this stage - has the best chances to sign him!" Plettenberg wrote on X. "IF he should leave Leverkusen in the summer …

"Di Marzio says: 'I thought Liverpool were ahead of Bayern two or three weeks ago, but now Bayern are moving quickly because they believe he's the perfect coach for the future. At the moment Bayern are ahead of Liverpool!'

"ALL of the bosses want to sign Alonso. [Uli] Hoeneß, [Karl-Heinz] Rummenigge, all members of the board. He is supposed to shape a new era. To sign Alonso is the main task for [Max] Eberl now."

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Henderson admits he needed to leave

Jordan Henderson says his exit from Liverpool gave a lift to two former teammates. The ex-captain thinks it was for the best.

Jordan Henderson believes Liverpool made the right decision to move him on in the summer. The Reds sold their captain to Al-Ettifaq in a controversial transfer, though Henderson has now joined Ajax.

But regardless of where he went, the midfielder feels Liverpool were correct to sell him. That's despite it being difficult for him to admit that.

“Looking back, I think it was the right time for me as a player [to leave] but also for them as a team and for them as a club, as much as that hurt at the time,” said Henderson, per The Times. “I was very emotional.

"Looking back in that period of time, looking back now, it is easy to see that it was the right decision made by the manager and the club. It was the best decision to freshen things up."

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Konate on Van Dijk

Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has had some nice words to say about Reds captain Virgil van Dijk. He's learned a lot from his teammate.

Ibrahima Konate believes Virgil van Dijk is the best defender in the world - and he's learned a lot from his teammate at Liverpool. The Frenchman paid tribute to his captain, especially with how driven Van Dijk is to improve others.

But what is the most important thing he's learned?

“Do the long ball! [Laughs]" Konate told Liverpool's matchday programme. “No, honestly, I can take so many things off Virg because I consider him to be the best defender in world football."

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De Zerbi fee

It would cost Liverpool the fourth-highest transfer fee for a manager in history to hire Roberto De Zerbi this summer. Whether the Reds want him is another matter.

The Telegraph reports that anyone wanting to hire Roberto De Zerbi this summer must pay Brighton 'upwards' of £12m. The wording there suggests it could go even higher, however.

Multiple clubs are eyeing the Italian in what promises to be a dramatic summer on the managerial front. Manchester United and Chelsea are both linked with De Zerbi, with Erik Ten Hag and Mauricio Pochettino both in danger of losing their jobs.

Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Barcelona are all certainly on the lookout for new managers, though. De Zerbi has been linked with the Reds ever since Jurgen Klopp announced he'd be stepping down.

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