Admittedly, that is hardly a surprise given all of the changes behind the scenes at Anfield, including Arne Slot’s appointment as Jurgen Klopp’s successor and Richard Hughes’ arrival as the club’s new sporting director. Throw in Euro 2024 and Copa America being underway and Liverpool were always likely to have to step away from their traditional preference to complete the majority of their incoming transfer business before the start of pre-season.
Tuesday marked a year since the club made Dominik Szoboszlai their second signing of summer 2023, arriving in a £60m switch from RB Leipzig after the Reds had already signed Alexis Mac Allister for £35m from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Yet ahead of Slot’s inherited first team squad reporting back to the AXA Training Centre later this week, Liverpool are yet to make any transfer movements of note.
There is interest in players, of course. They continue to monitor Leny Yoro’s situation at Lille, and are waiting to pounce if the 18-year-old doesn’t get his desired switch to Real Madrid. Meanwhile, reports over the weekend revealed talks had been held with Newcastle United regarding Anthony Gordon as the Magpies looked to comply with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules before the June 30 deadline. Their desire for the Reds to include Jarell Quansah in any switch contributed to it being a non-starter.
Beyond that pair, we are limited to nothing more than speculation, with the occasional sprinkle of player, agent or sporting director quotes thrown in.
Meanwhile, Manuel Ugarte’s agent has seemingly addressed rumour interest from Liverpool, with quotes regarding his clients future gaining plenty of traction in recent days.
"Liverpool? There is a lot of talk, but it is not the only club, there are others,” agent Jorge Chijane is credited as telling O Jogo. “There is a lot of talk, but I am not sure about the club yet.
“There are many options on the table. It's almost certain that he won't stay, it's sure he'll leave. I believe the situation will be resolved."
How exciting! Such quotes have been picked up by a multitude of prominent news outlets, with Ugarte’s future at Paris Saint-Germain seemingly uncertain as a result. A quick Google search and you can even see for yourselves just how far and wide such words have spread.
But while Chijane did indeed make such an admission about Liverpool and interest in his client, there is a problem with such a take. The quotes in question are a year old and have nothing to do with PSG!
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Chijane said the aforementioned quotes about Ugarte to O Jogo in May 2023 when addressing the Uruguayan’s future at Sporting Lisbon. The 23-year-old would confirm a few weeks later that he would be joining PSG, with a €60m switch to Paris then finalised at the start of July.
Making 37 appearances during his maiden season in the French capital, winning a Ligue 1 and Coupe de France double, it is of course possible that Ugarte will leave PSG this summer. But it is by no means certain.
With Liverpool navigating a slow start to the window, mainstream outlets have allowed themselves to fall into a trap in hope of feeding the transfer-hungry hordes. And with most not linking back to the original O Jogo article, they are seemingly not aware of their faux pas either, having not unearthed the original source.
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While not quite the fictional 'Didier Baptiste is in talks to join Liverpool' levels, it is an important lesson of the places silly season can go.
It’s worth noting that while the Reds were linked with Ugarte last summer, interest was dismissed by sources at the time prior to his move to PSG. With Liverpool currently possessing Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister and Stefan Bajcetic as options at number six, it is debatable whether such a stance would change now.
Yet regardless of what happens with Ugarte before the transfer window closes at the end of August, we can at least say with absolute certainty that his agent’s 'recent' widely-spread quotes referencing Liverpool are anything but recent. A little digging and it becomes clear they are completely irrelevant to this summer, with his 'certain' transfer being one he actually already completed 12 months ago.
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