Liverpool are exploring the market for another attacker ahead of Darwin Nunez‘s £46.3 million move to Al-Hilal, with the striker now set for a medical.
Nunez will travel to Al-Hilal’s training camp in Germany on Thursday to undergo a medical, after a deal worth upwards of €53 million (£46.3m) was agreed.
The striker’s exit will follow Luis Diaz‘s £65.6 million move to Bayern Munich, while Federico Chiesa is among those who could also leave in the coming weeks.
With the tragic loss of Diogo Jota earlier in the summer, that would leave Arne Slot with Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and £79 million signing Hugo Ekitike as his primary attacking options.
Liverpool will seek to sign another forward option when Nunez’s sale goes through, though they will only do so for the right candidate.
That player must be of sufficient quality to start while also being realistically attainable for a market value the club consider fair.
As ever, Liverpool will not simply sign a new attacker to add to the numbers already available to Arne Slot, with there a faith in Rio Ngumoha to step up as a genuine first-team option.
Slot can also rely upon the tactical flexibility of the likes of Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Curtis Jones, while Harvey Elliott – subject of interest from RB Leipzig – is also capable of filling a variety of roles.
Dominik Szoboszlai is another player who is comfortable in a number of different positions and even played up front on two occasions last season.
The addition of Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt has reduced the urgency to bring in another starting centre-forward, but Liverpool saw a £110 million bid for Newcastle striker Alexander Isak rejected last week.
Isak has since reported back to Newcastle‘s training ground but has worked separate to his teammates having made clear his desire to leave this summer.
He did not travel for their pre-season tour of Singapore and South Korea, citing a thigh injury, and subsequently made his way to the facilities of former club Real Sociedad to work on his fitness.
It remains to be seen if Liverpool will make another bid for Isak but claims of a move for Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola were dismissed on Wednesday night.