Liverpool have reached a critical juncture in their season, with Arne Slot’s squad firing across all cylinders on the pitch but facing concerning problems elsewhere.
We all know what these issues are: contracts – or, more specifically, their upcoming expiry dates. It’s a problem that’s threatening to dominate this crucial phase of a potentially prosperous campaign, but these aren’t the only exits that could occur this year.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is the most likely Liverpool player to be heading off for pastures new, but let’s take a look at some of the lesser-known transfer rumours that could take solid form this month or toward the summer market.
Who Liverpool could sell in 2025
If Virgil van Dijk or Mohamed Salah leave this year, it’s almost sure to be through the expiry of their contracts at the end of the season. Alexander-Arnold’s case, however, is different, with Real Madrid pushing to complete a deal.
The Times’ Paul Joyce has since revealed that Los Blancos are launching a series of proposals to take the right-back away from Merseyside this month, willing to pay around £20m for his services.
Richard Hughes is sure to have further files on his desk though, with Federico Chiesa unhappy on Merseyside after joining from Juventus for just £12.5m in the summer. The 27-year-old Italian has suffered with injuries, consequently starting just one game across all competitions.
Joe Gomez veered toward signing for Newcastle United in the summer before negotiations broke down, and he, Liverpool’s longest-serving first-team player, could seek a new challenge come the end of the season.
However, it’s Darwin Nunez whose name has recently surfaced as a potential departure. The Uruguay international has struggled to hit top form since completing a club-record £85m transfer in 2022, leaving Benfica in search of riches on English shores but failing to live up to the price tag.
Darwin Nunez's Liverpool future
Nunez has failed to nail down a regular starting berth at Liverpool, and given that he’s heading into the business end of his third season in the Premier League, this is concerning stuff.
Still only 25, he’s blessed with physicality and pace but fails to bring the floating facets of his skill set together into something coherent and directable toward the number nine position.
There will come a point where Slot’s patience will wear thin and Nunez will find himself alienated from the starting line-up, especially with Diogo Jota fit and firing and Luis Diaz bagging six goals from five matches in a makeshift centre-forward role this term.
That point might be arriving. Talk of a potential offer from AC Milan has been refuted in recent days, although it does point to an uncertain future for the polarising marksman at Anfield.
Why Liverpool should sell Darwin Nunez
Every single devoted Liverpool supporter has at least at one stage been in love with the frenzied football of Nunez. His chaos and energy were perfect at the spearhead of Klopp’s system, but wastefulness in front of goal has been a recurring theme throughout his career.
Now, with Slot as the head coach, the Uruguay star has found his influence in decline, having posted only four goals and three assists from 23 appearances in 2024/25. He’s only started 13 times but continues to offer less than Jota and Diaz at number nine.
The hope is that Salah will extend his historic Liverpool career but given that he turns 33 this summer, it’s plausible that potency will begin to dwindle over the coming years.
Liverpool need a first-class centre-forward to ease the right winger’s burden, and FSG simply will not authorise the kind of marquee move that the Reds require without shipping Nunez on.
After all, the club-record signing takes home a healthy £140k per week, meaning that only Salah and Chiesa take home more than him. This is something that Gakpo – who earns £120k-per-week – Jota and Diaz are sure to harbour some level of grudge toward.
Diaz, for example, is reportedly earning just £55k-per-week for the Anfield side. Talks have been held in recent months to work out whether an extension would be possible, though the respective parties appear to be at an impasse.
The most frustrating part is that, especially in the English top flight, Liverpool have struggled to get a tune out of Nunez with consistency. Even now, in his third season, there aren’t any discernible improvements of significance. He’s less wasteful, as per the numbers, but his more streamlined role under Slot’s management is still failing to bear fruits.
Matches (starts)
29 (19)
35 (22)
14 (7)
Goals
9
11
2
Assists
3
8
2
Shots (on target)*
2.9 (1.3)
3.0 (1.3)
1.5 (0.6)
Big chances missed
20
27
3
Pass completion
67%
72%
70%
Key passes*
1.0
0.9
0.4
Dribbles*
0.6
0.4
0.4
Total duels (won)*
2.8 (38%)
2.4 (38%)
3.0 (39%)
Given that Liverpool have been linked with the Premier League’s in-form striker Alexander Isak recently, it would seem ludicrous to persist with Nunez if any suitor – perhaps Milan – is willing to take him off Slot’s hands.
Bringing in a new marksman would only elevate Liverpool’s first team, if indeed that player is scouted thoroughly, but FSG will want to right their wrongs and this might be the series of transfer events that need to take place this year.
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