There are going to be a lot of changes around Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool squad this summer. As a new era dawns on Anfield, the squad is going to look distinctly different, and Liverpool will attempt to claw its way back to the top of the Premier League and European football.
But while Liverpool will be keen to add reinforcements, it’s also important to remember the rules on potential arrivals. At the moment, the Premier League only permits 17 non-homegrown players (players who have trained for at least three years in England between the ages of 18 and 21) per squad. The rest of a 25-man squad has to be filled with homegrown spots.
Liverpool hasn’t had a problem with this rule recently, however, this summer the club lost both James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and could lose more like Caoimhín Kelleher and Nathaniel Phillips, leaving only Curtis Jones, Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson and Joe Gomez who qualify as homegrown.
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That means there are potentially a few vacant spots in the squad that could be filled by a homegrown player.
And for Liverpool, there could be an ideal solution at Arsenal where two homegrown players have expiring contracts.
One of them is Reiss Nelson, who is still negotiating over a contract renewal with the Gunners, but with his contract expiring in less than a month, Liverpool has a chance to make a move and convince him to move to pastures new.
Nelson, who can play in a number of positions and is only 23 years old, would be an ideal cover for Liverpool in the squad, similar to Oxlade-Chamberlain’s role due to his ability to play out wide on the wing.
For Milner’s replacement, once again the ideal candidate could be another free transfer from Arsenal in 25-year-old Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who has already confirmed he will be leaving the club this summer.
Maitland-Niles is an England international and a player with a wealth of experience having even played for AS Roma in Serie A and Southampton as well as Arsenal in the Premier League.
Capable of playing in a number of roles from full-back to midfielder, both in central positions and out wide, he seems like an ideal candidate on a free transfer. Just like Nelson, he qualifies as a homegrown player and that will make him an even more alluring candidate for Liverpool.
Neither Nelson nor Maitland-Niles are going to be world-class additions, nor will they set the world alight at Anfield, but with so many squad players leaving Klopp’s team, he needs more than just first-team reinforcements this summer, and on free contracts, the duo could be two ideal additions. Not just because of their status as homegrown players but also due to their profile in terms of age and versatility.