Liverpool transfers: Clark and Danns left out of preseason tour squad

Liverpool have touched down in Pittsburgh for the first leg of their pre-season tour of the United States with a 28-strong squad picked by new coach Arne Slot. 

The Reds take on Real Betis on July 26 at the Acrisure Stadium in their first stateside warm-up fixture before a match in Philadelphia against Premier League rivals Arsenal. 

Manchester United will provide the opposition for the final leg of the tour at the Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, before Liverpool fly home for domestic duties. 

The first top-flight fixture of the season comes against Ipswich Town at Portman Road on August 17. 

Several of Liverpool’s top stars are absent from the tour due to their extended participation at the Copa America and Euro 2024. 

Superstars like Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold remain on holiday while Alisson Becker, Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Joe Gomez, Diogo Jota, Ibrahima Konate, Ryan Gravenberch are all still away from the squad. 

Clark and Danns left out of touring squad

Also out are Bobby Clark and Jayden Danns. Midfielder Clark has been out since March but has transfer interest from Pep Lijnders’ Red Bull Salzburg and Norwich. Danns, meanwhile, is reported to have suffered a knock in the behind-closed-doors defeat to Preston North End on Friday and has been linked with a loan move to Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle. 

Rhys Williams and Billy Koumetio are expected to leave the club and are training with the under-21s rather than touring with the first team. 

Other players who might have been expected to fill out the squad places but who haven’t travelled are goalkeeper Fabian Mrozek, Calum Scanlon and Carter Pinnington. 

Slot still has a strong squad at his disposal for the matches. 

Full Liverpool squad

Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Kostas Tsimikas, Andy Robertson, Fabio Carvalho, Stefan Bajcetic, Luke Chambers, Marcelo Pitaluga, Nat Phillips, Kaide Gordon, Ben Doak, James McConnell, Vitezslav Jaros, Caoimhin Kelleher, Owen Beck, Amara Nallo, Lewis Koumas, Sepp van den Berg, Jarell Quansah, Tyler Morton, Conor Bradley, Harvey Blair, Luca Stephenson, Harvey Davies, Trey Nyoni