Liverpool THRASH Man Utd, Salah contract SHOCK & Taylor Swift - Liverpool FC news recap
By
George James
George James
Here is all the latest Liverpool news from Sunday 1 September. Liverpool beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford, Salah gives a worrying contract update, multiple Liverpool players make history and Taylor Swift was influential in a Liverpool summer signing.
Manchester United 0-3 Liverpool
Liverpool were victorious at Old Trafford as Arne Slot's perfect start to life at Liverpool continued with a 3-0 win against the Reds' fiercest rivals.
A brace from Luis Diaz and a stunning third from Mohamed Salah ensured that Liverpool remain joint top of the Premier League heading into the first international break of the season.
Casemiro put in a performance to forget and Alisson once again proved his worth to Liverpool in a game that will be remembered fondly by the Anfield faithful.
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Mohamed Salah gives worrying contract update
Mohamed Salah uttered the words that no Liverpool fan wanted to hear after helping the Reds smash Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Reds fans were delighted with Salah's performance at Old Trafford, but will not be delighted with the interview he gave to Sky Sports after the game.
Salah has just one season left on his contract and could leave the club next summer - something he appeared to confirm in his post-match interview.
In the middle of discussing the performance at Old Trafford, Salah slipped in the bombshell that it is his last year at Liverpool and his last time to play at the so-called Theatre of Dreams.
Virgil van Dijk makes history against Manchester United
Liverpool’s captain Virgil van Dijk added another record to his Liverpool collection after making more history against Manchester United.
The 33-year-old has started the first two games under new head coach Arne Slot and was selected in the starting XI again to face Man Utd.
Van Dijk signed for Liverpool in January 2018 and has been club-captain since Jordan Henderson departed the club in 2023. The Dutchman joined Liverpool for £75m from Southampton, a world record fee for a defender at the time.
Since signing, Van Dijk has become a fan favourite at Anfield and has delivered some iconic moments, including his extra-time winner against Chelsea in last season's Carabao Cup final.
Sunday's appearance at Old Trafford was Van Dijk's 200th for Liverpool in the Premier League: yet another major milestone for the defensive colossus.
Diaz equalled a Mo Salah record in 3-0 Manchester United win
Luis Diaz scored both of the opening two goals in Liverpool's visit to Old Trafford, although Trent Alexander-Arnold did also have an early goal chalked off for an offside in the build up.
Diaz's first goal came from a Mohamed Salah cross that the Colombian nodded past Onana after Dominik Szoboszlai was able to duck out of the ball's way at the last second.
Diaz then doubled Liverpool's lead just before half time, again with an assist from Salah. After Ryan Gravenberch won the ball back in midfield he dribbled to the edge of Man United's box before laying the ball of for Salah who slid the ball in to a waiting Diaz. The immense Diaz then curled the ball into the bottom right corner from about 12 yards out.
This second goal for Diaz means that he became the first visiting player to score twice in the first half of a Premier League game at Old Trafford since Pascal Gross in August 2022.
He also became just the second ever Liverpool player to do so, after Mo Salah in October 2021.
How Taylor Swift paid for Chiesa transfer
Anfield played host to three huge Taylor Swift concerts earlier this summer and the American megastar may have paid Liverpool back with the signing of the summer.
For three nights in the middle of June, Anfield once again became home to thousands of loyal fans, but this time the people packing out the Merseyside stadium were not sporting Liverpool shirts and scarves, they were ‘Swifties’.
Anfield has hosted some huge concerts over the last five years, including musical giants such as Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Take That and Bon Jovi but Taylor Swift’s sold-out shows was arguably the biggest non-footballing event to ever take place at Anfield.
The shows attracted fans from all around the world and gave a boost to local businesses in the Liverpool city region, but Taylor Swift may also leave a legacy at Liverpool Football Club.
How Liverpool made over £63m this summer
Thanks to some shrewd operating towards the end of the transfer window, new Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes has turned a profit.
Until the last two weeks of August, it was looking like Hughes’ first summer in charge of sporting operations was going to be a big embarrassment for the former Bournemouth man, but thankfully he has redressed this to a degree as we look at the window with the benefit of hindsight.
In terms of the money spent, the headline deal was very obviously the absolute bargain that was Federico Chiesa at £12.5m, a ludicrously low fee for a player of such reputation.
Whilst it is not expected that the Italian will feature for head coach Arne Slot until after September’s international break, his signing has brought a feel-good factor around transfers that was sorely needed.
Liverpool dealt huge blow by new fixture list
The dates for Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League ‘league phase’ fixtures have been announced, revealing a very tricky run for the Reds.
Following Thursday’s Champions League draw, the dates of Liverpool’s league phase fixtures were released on Saturday.
The highlights of Liverpool's Champions League calendar include a trip to the San Siro to take on AC Milan as well as visits from both Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen to Anfield.
The change in Champions League format means that Liverpool will play eight fixtures in the initial phase of the competition rather than six and that all the matches will be against different opponents, rather than facing the same three teams home and away.
Another Liverpool transfer move confimred
Despite the transfer window closing on Friday evening, one player has taken to Instagram to confirm he has signed for Liverpool.
Alvin Ayman joins the Reds from Wolverhampton Wanderers, joining Liverpool’s academy programme after having already broken into Wolves’ under-18 set-up.
16 year-old Ayman had also featured for Wolves as part of their Premier League 2 team at under-21 level, as well as travelling with the Wolves first team when they took on Manchester City away last season.
Ayman posted a picture of his signing with the Reds on Instagram, as well as thanking his former team.
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