{"id":384249,"date":"2026-04-17T13:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T13:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/384249\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T13:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T13:25:10","slug":"third-key-star-set-for-free-transfer-exit-revealed-as-nine-players-destined-to-leave-named","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/384249\/","title":{"rendered":"Third key star set for free transfer exit revealed as nine players ‘destined to leave’ named"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to reports, Virgil van Dijk is \u2018expected\u2019 to exit Liverpool on a free transfer and nine players are \u2018destined to leave\u2019 this summer.<\/p>\n

Van Dijk <\/a>is rightly regarded as one of the best centre-backs in Premier League history, but he has suffered a dramatic decline this season and looks to be well past his peak.<\/p>\n

The Liverpool <\/a>captain was rewarded for his fine form with a new two-year contract towards the end of last season, but he has struggled this season and appears to be on borrowed time at Anfield.<\/p>\n

Van Dijk has contributed to Liverpool\u2019s defensive issues, with fellow centre-back Ibrahima Konate also among those who have massively fallen off since winning the Premier League last season.<\/p>\n

FSG\u2019s poor recruitment, head coach Arne Slot\u2019s uninspiring tactics and the sad passing of Diogo Jota have contributed to Liverpool\u2019s current woes, but the underperforming players are also to blame and there will likely be a squad exodus in the summer.<\/p>\n

READ: Liverpool: Ornstein reveals significant Slot update as FSG \u2018approached\u2019 by Man Utd manager target<\/a><\/p>\n

One of Liverpool\u2019s summer priorities will be to fix their defence and they have already struck a deal to sign Rennes standout Jeremy Jacquet, who will join Giovanni Leoni as a long-term option for the club.<\/p>\n

Liverpool could sign another centre-back because Konate is in the final couple of months of his contract and has yet to agree an extension, with David Ornstein reporting there is an \u2018impasse\u2019 in negotiations.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Reds also have to identify a suitable replacement for Van Dijk, with The Athletic reporting<\/a> that he is set to leave on a free transfer in 2027.<\/p>\n

The report states: \u2018If Konate stays, then the squad will be well stocked at centre-back. Captain Virgil van Dijk has one more year on his contract before his expected farewell, while Liverpool have Leoni coming back from injury and Jacquet joining from Rennes.\u2019<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Salah next? Failed farewells feature Ronaldo, Liverpool legend and Arsenal icon\u2019s \u2018worst moment\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

It has already been confirmed that Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson will depart Liverpool on free transfers this summer.<\/p>\n

Now, a report from The Telegraph claims Salah and Robertson are among nine players \u2018destined to leave\u2019 Liverpool summer as they are \u2018heading for exits\u2019.<\/p>\n

According to the report, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Federico Chiesa, Calvin Ramsay, Rhys Williams, Joe Gomez and Alexis Mac Allister are expected to be out of the door this summer.<\/p>\n

Regarding Mac Allister, the report adds: A surprise name, perhaps, but it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he could be used to finance the next phase of the rebuild.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Argentine has two years left on his contract, there have not been renewal talks yet and his form has dipped this season. Clubs in Europe are interested in him.\u2019<\/p>\n

READ NEXT: Premier League player power rankings: West Ham hero surges as Guehi puts pressure on top two<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"According to reports, Virgil van Dijk is \u2018expected\u2019 to exit Liverpool on a free transfer and nine players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1463,52167,111,43,139,69,23262,213,199434],"class_list":{"0":"post-384249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-home-page","9":"tag-liverpool","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-premier-league","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-virgil-van-dijk"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}