WILL TOTTENHAM’S INTEREST IN CURTIS JONES FORCE LIVERPOOL INTO A SURPRISE CONTRACT EXTENSION?
Arne Slot breaks silence on Liverpool's January plans after Conor Bradley's surgery. Plus, the truth on Curtis Jones and Spurs.
The clock’s winding down on the transfer window, and nobody’s really sure if Liverpool will make any last-minute moves after a wild summer.
There’s less than two weeks left for the higher-ups at Anfield to sign off on new players for Arne Slot’s squad. Already this month, Liverpool watched Marc Guehi head off to Manchester City, and Federico Chiesa’s future is still up in the air. Slot, though, isn’t giving much away about what the club plans to do.
“I think everyone’s on the same page about what we’re up against,” he said when someone asked if Conor Bradley’s injury might push Liverpool to bring someone in. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to do anything, but nobody’s got a different view. Still, that doesn’t guarantee anything happens.” So here’s where things stand at Anfield.
Curtis Jones catches eyes
Tottenham are apparently sniffing around Curtis Jones, if you believe the Times.
There’s been some talk about whether Jones will be happy with his minutes by the end of the season, especially since Spurs and a few other clubs would jump at the chance to sign him if he looked like he wanted to leave.
But with Spurs already bringing in Conor Gallagher, and Jones—who’s started seven of Liverpool’s last eight league games—still dreaming of making it big at Anfield, a move doesn’t seem likely right now.
Jones was pretty open about it back in December: “The big thing for me is to stay humble—I don’t want to just say, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna be captain’ or anything. But I want that. I want to be captain, and I want to stay here my whole life, like Gerrard, who’s always been my hero.”
Diomande is staying put—for now.
RB Leipzig’s sporting director, Marcel Schafer, made it clear they’re running the show when it comes to Yan Diomande. Leipzig picked him up last summer from Leganes by meeting his £17.4 million release clause, and since then, the 19-year-old winger’s been turning heads—including at Liverpool and Manchester United. Reports say he could fetch over £80 million these days.
But Leipzig’s not in any rush to sell. Asked if they’re in the “front seat” on Diomande’s future, Schafer joked, “Nobody’s even in the passenger seat. Everyone’s in the back.” He also talked about why they moved for Diomande in the first place: “We saw his numbers and knew we had to check him out—on video and in person. We were there before he’d even played 200 minutes in the league. His profile was exactly what we wanted.
“We didn’t need to have five meetings about it. It was a perfect fit. Once we started talking to Leganés, they told us outright—pay the release clause or forget it, because there was big competition. It was a lot of money considering where he was, but he was our top choice. We even ran it past Klopp and Mario Gomez—everyone said, ‘Go for it.’”
Chiesa’s future in limbo
Federico Chiesa’s chances of heading back to Juventus look pretty shaky. The club seems to have moved on to other attacking targets.
Juve are chasing Jean-Philippe Mateta and Daniel Maldini right now. They’re in talks with Crystal Palace about Mateta, and they’re also thinking about bringing Maldini, who’s at Atalanta, together with coach Luciano Spalletti.
Tuttosport says Maldini could be a more affordable option than Chiesa, which might explain the change in direction.
FINANCIAL EXPERTS PREDICT £120M HIT IF LIVERPOOL MISS 2026-27 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPOT
Liverpool face a £120m disaster: Read about the Champions League race, Arne Slot’s anger, and the impact of the £400m summer spend.
Liverpool’s in a tight spot right now. After losing to Wolves at Molineux, they’re clinging to fifth place, usually good enough for a Champions League spot, but the cushion isn’t exactly comfortable. They’re just three points ahead of Chelsea, who still have a game in hand against Aston Villa. That race is heating up fast.
Virgil van Dijk summed it up pretty well: “Either we get it, and we deserve it, or we don’t get it, and we don’t deserve it. If you play for Liverpool, it’s always been like this. It’s down to us, together with our fans, to get the results we need to get into the Champions League.” He also mentioned that Arne Slot, the head coach, wasn’t exactly thrilled after the loss; “angry” was the word he used.
But it’s not just about pride or missing out on big European nights. There’s a lot of money on the line. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire pointed out that missing out on the Champions League could leave a big dent in Liverpool’s bank account, even if the club runs pretty sensibly these days.
UEFA’s numbers tell the story. Liverpool earned €98.1 million (£85.3 million/$114 million) just for reaching the last 16 of the 2024–25 Champions League. Compare that to the Europa League, where they only received €26.8 million (£23.3 million/$31.1 million) for reaching the quarterfinals last season. The gap is massive.
Even winning the lesser European trophies doesn’t come close. Tottenham got €41.4 million (£36 million/$48.1 million) for winning the Europa League, and Chelsea picked up €21.8 million (£20 million/$26.7 million) for the Conference League. It’s nowhere near what Champions League teams bring home.
Maguire also pointed out the other hits: fewer home match days, less broadcast cash, and sponsors that pay out less when the club misses the top tier. He reckons missing out could cost Liverpool around £120 million ($160 million). Still, he doesn’t think it’ll sink the club.
And it’s not like Liverpool have been shy about spending. Last summer alone, they shelled out more than £400 million ($534.5 million) on big names like Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak – the biggest single-window spend in football history, actually.
Even with all that, Liverpool just reported record revenues of £703 million ($939 million) for the year ending May 2025, turning a modest £8 million ($10.7 million) profit. And here’s the kicker: despite that wild summer, Liverpool ranks only eighth in net transfer spend over the past five years. They’ve been splashing the cash, sure, but they’ve kept things balanced in the long run.
WHAT’S MISSING? WHY 16 GOALS AND 6 ASSISTS AREN'T ENOUGH FOR HUGO EKITIKE
Liverpool's top scorer Hugo Ekitike reflects on a massive win at Anfield and explains why he’s still hungry for more goals.
Hugo Ekitike isn’t exactly thrilled with his goal tally for Liverpool this season, even though he’s still leading the pack as the club’s top scorer.
He got his 16th goal of the season on Saturday, kicking things off in Liverpool’s 5-2 win over West Ham at Anfield. Not bad for his debut year. Plus, the 23-year-old, who came over from Eintracht Frankfurt last summer for up to £79 million, set up two more goals for Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo. That puts him at 22 goal involvements so far.
Still, Ekitike thinks he’s got a lot more to give. He missed solid chances against Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, and Manchester City recently, and that’s still bugging him.
“To be honest, I could score more,” he said. “I’m not that happy! But it’s not just about goals; it’s assists too. On Saturday, I set up one or two. As long as I’m helping the team and being involved, that’s what really matters. I want to win, so in that way, I’m happy.
“Obviously, I can improve. I could’ve scored in those last games; I had some good chances. So I’ll keep working. I want to be the best I can for the team, because I know I can do more.
“It’s all about learning and getting better. I’ll try to step it up in the next games, score more, and get involved even more.”
His goal against West Ham came after Liverpool kept the pressure on from a corner. Four of their goals that day came straight from, or just after, set pieces.
“We had some problems at the start of the season,” Ekitike said about Liverpool’s set-piece struggles. “We’ve all talked about it and worked on it together in training. It’s great to see it paying off now. We deserved it; honestly, we’ve put a lot of work into this.”
Saturday was the first of seven huge games in just over three weeks. Liverpool were up 3-0 at halftime, but West Ham didn’t just roll over; they made Liverpool work for it in the second half, fighting to stay out of the relegation zone.
Talking to liverpoolfc.com, Ekitike said, “Scoring early in games like that helps, for the team and for the fans. You feel more confident. And going in at halftime 3-0 up, that’s always good.
“But they showed it’s not over till it’s over, they fought back, and we let a couple in. When that happens, you have to score more, and we did. We got five.
“We’ve got to keep going, because there’s a long way left in the season. But yeah, I’m really happy. That win mattered.”
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