Agent confirms Trent Alexander-Arnold successor

Signing players is difficult. Although least it seems that way for Liverpool fans.

The club's sporting director only managed to pull off two deals in the summer, with one arriving next season, and it looks like there will be no fresh faces this January.

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While the club's approach to the transfer market can be considered cautious, the reality is that recruiting players is not as straightforward as you may think.

There are many moving parts, including the transfer fee, the terms with the parent club, the wages, the terms of the contract and selling the overall project of a move to the player.

A fundamental part of the process is also speaking to the agent and a prior relationship with an agency can really help fast-forward a transfer, as there is already a rapport in place between the two parties.

How Liverpool's Chiesa signing can lead to further incomings

After spending most of the summer working on signing Martin Zubuimendi to the club, and failing, Liverpool were not to give up their hopes of bringing in a new player, and when the opportunity to sign Federico Chiesa arose, the club took it.

Juventus were willing to sell him, the player had already bought into the project and so the deal went through smoothly.

His representatives were LIAN Sports Agency, whom Liverpool had not worked with before, but as they were known for working with several different players in Europe, it was not a bad connection for the club to have forged.

In December, it was confirmed that Liverpool's left-back target Milos Kerkez at Bournemouth was to also join the LIAN agency, a notable boost to the club's chances of bringing him in as a long-term replacement for Robertson.

However, Liverpool might also need to bring in a replacement right-back, should negotiations with Trent Alexander-Arnold fall to pieces, leading to him exiting the club on a free transfer when his contract expires in June.

One of the players the Reds are reportedly monitoring, should a new right-back be added to the shopping list, is RB Salzburg's Amar Dedic, another player who is part of the same agency as Kerkez and Chiesa, having joined in October last year.

The 22-year-old Bosnian is a particularly progressive full-back who ranks highly for progressive passes and progressive carries, according to FBref. In addition, his leadership qualities are already established, having donned the captain's armband for both his club and his country.

While the process of securing a move for a player is still set to be fraught with difficulty, given how in-demand the player will prove to be as he develops his ability, Liverpool could have the upper hand in a deal as they are negotiating with a similar foe.

So even though many will have criticised the club's transfer of Chiesa because the Italian has been largely injury-prone since he arrived, his representatives may have Liverpool's future full-back pairing on their books.

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