Liverpool transfer news as $76m ‘steps taken’ and Jürgen Klopp ‘makes last request to board’

Liverpool could arrange one final transfer of the Jürgen Klopp era before the impending January deadline, while it has ‘taken steps’ for a summer target.

Liverpool is still very much processing the news that Jürgen Klopp will not be its manager beyond the end of this season. The reality of the announcement is slowly sinking in, but the implications it brings are still yet to be fully worked through.

One of the less significant elements of the news is that, as things stand, Ryan Gravenberch will go down in the history books as the final signing of the Jürgen Klopp era. He will hope to be more significant than his fellow bookend, Marko Grujić.

But Liverpool does still have a little over 24 hours left of Klopp’s final transfer window at the club. And while activity is not considered likely, it would not be his first January deadline day move, with Luis Díaz the last to arrive in these circumstances.

Sure enough, it’s been claimed that Klopp has made a request to the board for one last signing, which could clear up the question of succeeding Mohamed Salah as his eventual heir in the dugout. The Egyptian is currently out injured, and transfer links will resurface in the summer amid interest from cash-rich Saudi Arabia.

Alternatively, the club has taken ‘concrete steps’ towards a defensive signing to end the Klopp era. Here is the Liverpool.com verdict on the transfer gossip to emerge around the Reds today.

Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad)

Klopp has told the Liverpool board that he wants Takefusa Kubo to be his last Liverpool signing. That’s according to Team Talk.

The Japanese winger holds the rare status of having spent time at both Barcelona and Real Madrid. He benefited from a La Masia education between 2011 and 2015 after leaving his native country, but would return to Japan before later being picked up by the giant from the Spanish capital.

He never made an appearance for Real Madrid, instead being sent on a series of La Liga loans. But after four of those, Real Sociedad struck a permanent deal in 2022. Still only 22 years old, Kubo is now shining and could be in the frame as a Salah successor at Liverpool.The 2023 remake of an iconic LFC kit from the 1995/96 season features a crewneck with a digital effect treatment layering green tones, described as green spark, poison green, and pine green. It will be worn by the Reds on the road throughout the 2023–2024 campaign.

Liverpool.com says: Klopp has made it clear that he wants no part in deciding his own managerial successor. So it seems unlikely that he would effectively tie the hands of his eventual heir by anointing a Salah heir within his last six months at the helm.

Whoever does take over is left with a Liverpool team in pretty immaculate shape, far better than when Klopp took over. But having completed most of the rebuild for himself, the German is surely now set to leave any remaining transfer questions to the next boss.

That being said, Kubo is an exciting talent. And if Klopp’s successor happens to be Xabi Alonso, he may well have been watching the winger closely, given his own links to Real Sociedad.

Leny Yoro (Lille)

PSG is working hard to secure a deal for Lille center-back Leny Yoro. The teenager has emerged as one of the brightest defensive prospects in Ligue 1.

However, English sides have ‘not given up’, Liverpool among them. Per Le10Sport, ‘concrete steps’ have already been taken toward a $76m (£60m/€70m) transfer. The price for PSG would be higher, with Lille adding a premium for a domestic rival.

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