Liverpool now want EXCITING £40m star from DIRECT rivals

The transfer rumour mill continues to turn as Liverpool are yet to secure the long-term futures of any of their out-of-contract heroes.

And whilst Mo Salah is causing public controversy and Anfield Watch have reported that Virgil van Dijk will be staying at the club, Trent Alexander-Arnold is proving more difficult to get a read on.

READ MORE: Reds lining up MASSIVE transfer to REPLACE Diogo Jota

The interest from Real Madrid is well established at this point, as are Los Blancos’ right-back woes.

Alongside this, a stunning new report claimed that Deco would be looking to see if he could swing a deal to bring the local lad to Barcelona due to it being a free transfer.

As a result, Liverpool’s interest in a whole host of right-backs is ongoing.

And a new report from Simon Phillips claims that the Reds are interested in an approach for Chelsea’s Malo Gusto - but so too are Manchester City.

Liverpool look to weaken title rivals Chelsea

The report further claims that Chelsea have no intention of selling Gusto, yet both Liverpool and City could try and test their resolve with substantial bids.

Chelsea bought Gusto in a deal worth £29m back in January 2023 and his current deal runs until 2030, meaning any bid would probably have to be in excess of £40m for Chelsea to even consider selling.

Gusto has been an exciting player since debuting in the Premier League, yet is slightly suffering from Chelsea’s ridiculous squad depth and his own injury issues, sharing game time with Axel Disasi and Wesley Fofana at right-back this season.

His output also hasn’t been fantastic, claiming only two assists in 14 appearances in all competitions this season.

He does, instead, match up favourably to Trent defensively. He completes a similar 53.6% of tackles to Alexander-Arnold’s 51.2%. Yet his attacking output falters, registering only 0.05 expected assisted goals per-90 to Alexander-Arnold’s 0.32.

It would represent a very interesting move to try and weaken the team emerging as closest challengers to Liverpool’s title charge so far this season.

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