Liverpool's Summer Rebuild: Wharton, Barcola, and McTominay
Liverpool’s summer rebuild is still being drawn on the whiteboard, but the names being thrown at Anfield are getting louder and more expensive by the day.
MacAnthony pushes Wharton as Liverpool’s long-term anchor
Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony, a vocal Liverpool supporter, has nailed his colours to one midfield target in particular: Adam Wharton.
"I'd love them to sign Wharton," he told talkSPORT, before turning the spotlight on one of Liverpool’s current mainstays. "I think Alexis Mac Allister, for me, his legs were gone last year. It was only when he put an Argentina shirt on that his legs reappeared."
MacAnthony didn’t stop there. He floated the idea of a reshuffle that would see Mac Allister moved on to make room for the Crystal Palace star.
"If you could do business there with him going, I think you bring [Wharton] in and you’ve got a player for the next seven, eight years that will be a starter.
"He’s got so much upside and potential in him. Even if he costs £85M-£100M or whatever else, you’re getting the player for the long-term."
A huge fee. But that’s the kind of figure now being attached to 20-year-old midfielders who look like they can run a team for a decade.
Barcola, Salah and the search for goals
Out wide, the conversation keeps circling back to life after Mohamed Salah.
Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith believes Liverpool would be landing an ideal profile if they can get Bradley Barcola through the door.
"He's played on the left for PSG," Smith said. "He can play on the right, so it's not as if you would earmark him as a like-for-like replacement for Mohamed Salah.
"But it looks like he's going to move if PSG can accept a fee. It seems to be between Liverpool and Arsenal. He's a talented player; we saw that in the World Cup. He'd be a great signing for Liverpool."
Speaking to Liverpool.com on behalf of Best Betting Sites, Smith underlined the scale of the task if Salah does depart.
"With Salah going, a like-for-like replacement in terms of goal output is a priority."
Then came a twist. Smith pointed to another solution to the goal gap – not on Merseyside, but in the centre-forward role.
"But the thing is, with Alexander Isak back fit, Hugo Ekitike is going to be out for a few months, but Isak got himself a goal the other day in pre-season, so he's well capable of getting 20 plus league goals.
"So that might be an answer for them with Salah going. And Florian Wirtz, second season, he can chip in, get well into double figures. But I'd still think that they'll be after a striker or an attacking player."
The message is clear: whoever replaces Salah’s goals, it will almost certainly take more than one player.
Alexander-Arnold faces a new reality at right-back
On the defensive side, the picture at right-back across Europe has shifted. With Denzel Dumfries heading to Real Madrid, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s status among the elite in his position will be tested in a different way this season.
Reports in Spain have suggested Jose Mourinho could move him permanently into midfield, a long-debated switch around Anfield. The snag? That area of the pitch is already crowded.
Speculation or not, one thing isn’t in doubt: his talent. The sense inside the club and across the game is that he is simply too good to be squeezed out. One way or another, he will find minutes – and plenty of them.
Gerrard’s phone call that helped swing Van Dijk
While Liverpool wrestle with their next big decisions, Steven Gerrard has lifted the lid on one of the most important choices of the recent past: Virgil van Dijk’s move in 2017.
"He phoned me at the time, actually," Gerrard revealed. "I knew his agent really well. It was City, Liverpool.
"He said to me, ‘I haven’t phoned you to sort of push me one way or the other, because I know which way you’re going to push me. But just tell me a little bit about Liverpool?’"
Gerrard’s response was blunt, and it hit home.
"I just said to him, ‘Look, if it’s about what the clubs stand for and what the clubs are about, you’re wasting your time because I think you already know the answer to that.’"
"It was an interesting conversation and I was so happy that he chose us."
That decision reshaped Liverpool’s defence and their trophy haul. The club’s next big call in the market will be judged against that kind of benchmark.
‘Gerrard-esque’ McTominay backed for Anfield switch
Another voice from the past, former Manchester United assistant Rene Meulensteen, has put forward a more surprising name for Liverpool’s midfield.
He believes Scott McTominay, now at Napoli, would be an ideal fit at Anfield.
"McTominay has Gerrard-esque qualities and would suit Liverpool, he's one of those midfielders that can get you goals, now how many of those midfielders are around today?" Meulensteen told Tipman Tips.
"He brings physicality, energy, drive, braveness, courage, goals, and makes good box runs.
"I've been very impressed with him since he left United because that could have easily been the start of his career fizzling out. But with Scott it’s the total opposite, he has bloomed and come to life."
From Wharton to McTominay, the profiles differ. The demand is the same: legs, goals and presence from midfield.
Behind closed doors, the work continues
Away from the noise of transfer talk, Liverpool’s preparations continue quietly.
The behind-closed-doors friendly against Como this weekend has been brought forward by half an hour, now kicking off at 11.30am (UK time) instead of midday. The later game, which will be played in front of supporters, remains a 6pm (UK time) start.
No fans will be inside for the first fixture, but the club will stream it on official channels. Another small window into a squad in transition, as Liverpool weigh up which of these big ideas – Wharton, Barcola, McTominay and more – will actually define their next era.
