12 Players Liverpool Should Clear Out in the 2016 Summer Transfer Window
Jurgen Klopp's busy summer of transfers has kicked off in earnest, with four new players joining Liverpool for pre-season ahead of the 2016/17 campaign.
A number have departed following the expiry of their contracts—but it is unlikely to stop there, with the German remoulding his squad for his first full campaign on Merseyside.
The Reds have already welcomed Marko Grujic, Joel Matip, Loris Karius and £30 million forward Sadio Mane to their Melwood training facility as Klopp begins to implement his gruelling fitness regime. Kolo Toure, Jordan Rossiter, Joao Carlos Teixeira and Jerome Sinclair were among the high-profile departures.
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Toure became a free agent following three seasons at the club, with Fraser Mackie of the Scottish Mail on Sunday reporting interest from former manager Brendan Rodgers, now of Celtic, while Rossiter, Teixeira and Sinclair joined Rangers, FC Porto and Watford respectively.
Klopp was keen to conclude the majority of his transfer business before the Reds' pre-season schedule began, with the 49-year-old telling the club's official website following the signing of Mane that "it is great that we have managed to sign him so he can work with us from the first day of pre-season."
But with other clubs perhaps not taking the same approach, particularly those looking to acquire some of Klopp's out-of-favour talents, there is still something of a clear-out to negotiate before the Premier League season begins in August.
Here are 12 first-team players Liverpool should look to move on in the 2016 summer transfer window, whether permanently or temporarily, starting off at the back with Hungarian goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.
Adam Bogdan
Bogdan's arrival at Liverpool last summer came in a similar vein to staff appointments Sean O'Driscoll and Gary McAllister: low investment on arrival, and low payout on departure.
While O'Driscoll and McAllister left their respective positions as assistant manager and first-team coach shortly after Rodgers' dismissal in October, Bogdan was kept at the club for the rest of the season—and made five appearances under Klopp, adding to his solitary outing for his former manager.
The 28-year-old conceded eight goals in those six games, including five across two disastrous performances against Watford in the Premier League and Exeter City in the FA Cup third round. Following the arrival of Karius from Mainz this summer, he has admitted he is looking to leave the club on loan ahead of 2016/17.
"The goal is to get loaned out," he told Goal Hungary. "I could stay but I would need incredible luck or a lot of injuries to climb the ladder. I can get out of this situation by performing well somewhere else. Then if life allows it, return to Liverpool. I need to go to prove my worth."
Wigan Athletic are credited with interest in the former Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper, and it would be merciful of Klopp to end his spell in Premier League obscurity by allowing his departure this summer.
Martin Skrtel
Slovakian centre-back Martin Skrtel remains something of a polarising figure among Liverpool supporters, toeing the line between endlessly loyal club legend and error-prone defensive pariah.
The 31-year-old has outlived four managers on Merseyside in Rafa Benitez, Roy Hodgson, Kenny Dalglish and most recently Rodgers, but for much of his eight-and-a-half years with the club, he has served as the one constant in a hugely problematic area of the field for the Reds.
Skrtel's rash, physical approach to defensive duties has seemingly jarred with Klopp's tactical outlook, with Fenerbahce president Aziz Yildirim telling Turkish outlet AMK Spor (h/t This is Anfield's Henry Jackson) that a £5.5 million deal to bring him to Istanbul was "almost done."
Despite his commitment to the cause since his move to the club from Zenit Saint Petersburg at the beginning of 2008, Skrtel finds himself behind Matip, Mamadou Sakho, Dejan Lovren and talented young prospect Joe Gomez in the centre-back pecking order at Liverpool.
Though some sections of the Anfield support will bemoan his departure—as they did with the sales of Pepe Reina and Daniel Agger in recent years—Skrtel's Liverpool tenure has reached a timely conclusion.
Andre Wisdom
Spending the past three seasons on loan with Derby County, West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City, the 23-year-old defender Andre Wisdom has long struggled to impose himself as a viable first-team option, and while he may be handed the opportunity to impress Klopp in pre-season, he is far from the quality required.
His peripheral role under Alex Neil at Carrow Road in 2015/16 perhaps underlined his status as a low-level option most adeptly, with Wisdom playing 1,182 minutes for the Canaries over 14 appearances.
Despite Wisdom's versatility, only two of Neil's first-team defenders had fewer minutes on the field last season: January arrival Timm Klose (850) and fellow right-back option Steven Whittaker (689).
Having yet to live up to the promise that prompted his move to Merseyside from Bradford City at the age of 14, Wisdom may need to step down to the Championship in order to secure first-team football ahead of 2016/17.
Lucas Leiva
"It is the first transfer window in which Klopp will participate more actively in Liverpool, so I’ll just get a better idea when I return," Lucas Leiva told Brazilian radio station Joven Pan (h/t the Liverpool Echo's Ian Doyle) ahead of his return to Melwood, clouding his Liverpool future in doubt.
"Whatever happens, the idea, as always, is to stay in Europe, especially in England, which has a very strong and good league to play."
Lucas has been routinely linked with a move away from Merseyside in recent transfer windows, most notably with a proposed loan move to join Besiktas last summer—with Rodgers pulling the plug on the deal at the last minute following the midfielder's excellent display against Arsenal in August.
But Klopp's likely signings in midfield suggest an imminent move, with Udinese's Piotr Zielinski and Borussia Monchengladbach's Mahmoud Dahoud widely believed to be the German's top targets.
The Reds could play just 40 games in 2016/17, and with the likes Grujic, Emre Can, Jordan Henderson and James Milner already vying for starting roles in Klopp's midfield, Lucas' first-team prospects look slim.
Joe Allen
Like Lucas, Wales international midfielder Joe Allen may struggle for game time in 2016/17, and despite an impressive series of performances at this summer's European Championship, the 26-year-old remains on the periphery.
According to the Mirror's David Anderson, Liverpool have rejected an £8 million bid from Allen's former club, Swansea City, with the club's transfer chiefs "understood to want around £10 million."
Allen is also said to be "open to a move," and while the cultured midfielder has garnered increasing popularity among Liverpool supporters over the past 12 months, few could begrudge him if he were to leave the club in search of regular first-team football.
Christian Benteke's £32.5 million move to Liverpool from Aston Villa last summer was met with widespread confusion from supporters of both clubs, with Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe describing the Belgian to This is Anfield as a poor fit for the Reds.
Tighe also said Benteke's compatriot Divock Origi was a better fit in terms of Rodgers' tactical approach, while also suggesting that if he failed to make an impact "it could be one of those truly historic flops—and it may not even be the player’s fault," saying:
"As good as Benteke really is, he’s a pretty bad stylistic fit for the Liverpool we have come to know and understand under Brendan Rodgers.
Without wanting to put him back in said pigeonhole, he’s essentially a cross hoover, and if you don’t cross or play long to Benteke, you’re probably not using his best strengths.
"
Unfortunately, Tighe's assessment rings true almost 12 months on, with Liverpool not only not playing to his strengths as a bullish, physical centre-forward but also that he now stands in line with one of the club's most frustrating signings in recent years: Andy Carroll, who was signed from Newcastle United for £35 million in 2011.
Liverpool are reported by the Express' Paul Joyce to be willing to part ways with Benteke, though they will ask his suitors, including Crystal Palace, for £30 million for his services.
As with Carroll, club owner Fenway Sports Group could be forced to cut its losses and accept the mistake, though Benteke should hopefully serve as more of a cautionary tale than his Tyneside counterpart.
Mario Balotelli
While Benteke's signing represented a mistake from the off, the arrival of Mario Balotelli from AC Milan the previous summer provoked intrigue around Merseyside—if Rodgers were able to coax the mercurial Italian's out talent onto the field on a more regular basis, he would have been a bargain at £16 million.
But after a tumultuous campaign in 2014/15, the striker returned to Milan on loan, scoring just three goals in 23 appearances last season, with the San Siro outfit passing up the opportunity to make his move permanent.
Regarded as being on his last chance when he moved to Merseyside in 2014, Balotelli may struggle to find a top-level buyer this summer, but behind Origi, Mane, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Ings and Roberto Firmino in Klopp's attacking ranks, his departure is something of an inevitability.
Loans
Without European football in 2016/17, Klopp is unlikely to require the sizeable squad called upon throughout his first season with the club, with the German recalling a number of his young loanees in January, employing their talents in the FA Cup and in league games toward the end of the campaign.
This could see a number of his promising young stars leave Merseyside on temporary deals in order to secure first-team football and, crucially, continue their development ahead of a possible return either at the beginning of 2017 or next summer.
Most prominently, the arrival of Karius—likely designed to provide Simon Mignolet with competition for the role of first-choice goalkeeper—further shunts Danny Ward out of the picture, and the Welshman is set to leave the club to join Huddersfield Town, according to Goal's Melissa Reddy.
Two of Ward's defensive colleagues, Brad Smith and Connor Randall, are also unlikely to receive sufficient game time under Klopp in 2016/17, and the full-backs would benefit from spells away from Anfield along with holding midfielder Kevin Stewart, who finds himself in a similar position to Lucas and Allen.
Finally, the 20-year-old winger Jordon Ibe is likely to struggle for starting appearances, and despite the Birmingham Mail's Paul Suart ruling out a loan move to West Brom, a temporary departure could see himself restore his reputation following a disappointing 2015/16.
Twelve further departures would leave Klopp with a streamlined squad high on quality and attuned to the German's tactical demands, and while supporters may rue another summer of major personnel overhaul, it is what is required for the ex-Borussia Dortmund manager to realise his vision.
Statistics per Transfermarkt.
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