Liverpool

Image source, Liverpool Football Club

Liverpool have revealed their sleek new away kit for the upcoming 2024-25 season.

The shirt takes inspiration from the green colourway often used in the Reds' away kits, featuring an "earthy dark green and anthracite" design with "washed teal" accents on the cuffs and inside panelling.

Arne Slot's side will wear the new strip during the final game of their USA pre-season tour, as the Reds take on Manchester United at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah says he feels like he belongs at the highest level after earning his maiden England call-up.

Quansah, 21, had his breakthrough season at Anfield during the last campaign and was called into Gareth Southgate’s preliminary squad for Euro 2024 but was ultimately cut just before the tournament began.

But that recognition, he says, and his involvement under new manager Arne Slot during two pre-season wins against Arsenal and Real Betis, have given the central defender a belief that he is part of the future on Merseyside.

“There’s a realisation that I’m capable of playing at the level and I can kick on so much better,” he said of his breakthrough season at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

“[It’s] never an imposter [syndrome], no, ever anything like that. For me, I’ve always wanted to be a starting centre-back for Liverpool so it’s never been I’ve landed here [without deserving it].

“You’ve all seen it as the last year, but I’ve been working 16 years at Liverpool, grafting away which you probably don’t see. That’s always been my goal, that’s always been the plan.

“I’m still young, there’s a lot to improve on. That’s the best thing about it, I know I can be good at times but there’s so much potential and I need to keep working hard to fulfil it.”

He added about his England call up: “It was really good, couldn’t thank Gareth enough for that opportunity. Just to be around the best players in the country and get that recognition of the season I’ve had was good experience of me.

“Just getting recognised around England, which is recognition of how well I’m doing, to see I’ve got so many fans and people who idolise me. That’s always a good thing.”

Quansah is expected to start again when Liverpool face Manchester United in Columbia in their final pre-season game on Saturday evening.

We asked for your views on Liverpool's 2-1 win over Arsenal in a pre-season friendly.

Here are some of your comments:

Rae: Another promising performance and this time against tough opposition. The new style of football continues to evolve and this will take a while to settle. Mistakes will be made this season and there will be criticism at times, but hopefully over the next couple of years the results and rewards will come.

Shane: The team looked to keep the shape of a 4-2-3-1 system and looked very fluid throughout. It's going to take time for the philosophy to comprehend and implement overloads during transitional phases. Elliott is looking very good and had a great game. Quansah was phenomenal and made a goal-saving tackle in the second half.

Nigel: Watched the first half, quite impressed. Arsenal pressed us high which initially caused a few alarms but that got sorted. Caused their defence all sorts of problems and scored two really good goals. Elliott was excellent with two assists and would have had a third had Jota not hit the post. Very positive.

Rawldog: Elliott should be a starter and a new midfielder should be bought to strengthen the play behind him.

Ken: Another good performance, especially in the first half when playing with a recognised front man. The football was slick and on the occasions Elliott made quick decisions, including an exquisite chipped pass, the goals followed. The chances conceded in the first half were mainly due to lack of care from Jones and Kelleher. Saw the game out well.

John: Elliott was involved in most of what was good from Liverpool. He just needs to tighten up the loose passes, but a lot more positives than negatives.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter in Philadelphia

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott wants to keep hold of his favoured number 10 role after excelling in a pre-season win over Arsenal.

The 21-year-old assisted both Reds goals for Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho in a 2-1 win over Mikel Arteta's side in Philadelphia.

Having played various roles under Jurgen Klopp, Elliott believes number 10 is his best position and is fighting to keep the spot under new manager Arne Slot.

"Absolutely - that's what I need to do," Elliott said. "I need to cement my real position and keep working, building and improving.

"I won't turn down playing anywhere and I am happy to put on my shirt and play, but if you're talking about preferred positions, that's probably [it].

"I play there with England as well and I am used to it. It's down to me to show them, to keep working hard, put in performances in the games and training and see what happens.

Slot was pleased with his performance, saying: "Two great assists but what I believe is that the team created these for him as well.

"Playing out from the back, getting him in the right positions and then it is up to him to bring the most out of those situations. He did that today with two assists.

"If I am [to be] a bit hard on him, I think there are maybe two other situations where he could have done better, but that is what the team is doing for him and the other [10s]."

Liverpool and England defender Joe Gomez, 27, remains open to leaving this summer after a move to Newcastle fell through last month. (Mail), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta believes new Liverpool manager Arne Slot can emulate his predecessor Jurgen Klopp and be genuine title contenders this season.

The Reds beat Arsenal 2-1 in Philadelphia on Wednesday night with goals from Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho and Arteta has seen enough to insist Slot's Liverpool will be in the mix for trophies this year.

"I think so," Arteta said. "We all have to start competing and earning our right to show how good we are.

"But the team's looking good. With the games I've seen in pre-season, it's clear what he's been trying to implement.

"There are certain differences. Every coach has his touch. There are certain individuals that make the characteristics of the team as well - one is the style of play and then the DNA of certain players that put the stamp on the team.

"It was a tough game for us."

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool handed Arsenal their first defeat of pre-season thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho, with Kai Havertz offering the sole reply for the Gunners.

Arsenal fans, let us know your thoughts on the match, external

What did you learn from the performance, Reds supporters?, external

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool youngster Kaide Gordon is enjoying his first pre-season under new boss Arne Slot.

Gordon, 19, joined the Reds from Derby in the summer of 2021, made his debut a few months later and became Liverpool's second youngest goalscorer and youngest FA Cup goalscorer when he found the net against Shrewsbury in the third round.

However, he was sidelined for more than a year with a pelvic injury and has struggled for first team opportunities since his return, appearing just once in each of the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League in Jurgen Klopp's final season in charge.

"It has been good, a different experience obviously with a new coach," Gordon told the Reds' official website. "But it's good to get away with the lads and I've enjoyed it so far, it's been good.

"It's my first pre-season in two years I think. Obviously I've been out for a while so it's just good to get back around it and get up to the rhythm, so I'm enjoying it.

"You don't realise when you're in it, how much you miss it when you're out of it, to be fair. Obviously it's just good to be back involved in it, to be honest."

Gordon's nightmare time with injuries has only increased his motivation to force his way into Slot's plans.

"It's the hardest time, there's always ups and downs – you think you're coming back at a certain time and you get told no, it's longer," he added.

"It's definitely the hardest time I've been through, but when you're coming towards the end of it, you start to feel like you can see the end of the tunnel. Now I'm back, it's just trying to stay back and keep involved with it all.

"100% I feel stronger for it, because you're just by yourself. The lads are out training and you can see them training and it's obviously tough. But when you get back out there, you start to realise how much you miss it even more.

"It's definitely different to how the old gaffer was, but I'm enjoying it so far and I'll just see how the season goes.

"I've been speaking to John [Heitinga] quite a lot, he's helping me with my finishing and all kinds of stuff like that, my positioning. It's definitely different but I'm enjoying it."

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

Players like Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund are already suffering from hamstring injuries two weeks before the season even starts - and they say the modern preparation regimes are better, safer and more scientific!

They probably are better. At least the players do not have to go through some of the borderline sadistic routines that previous generations did. Back then, after a decent length of summer break, pre-season meant working incredibly hard over a short period of time to get yourself back in top condition fast.

Sprinting up and down gigantic sand dunes against the clock until many players were physically sick was de rigueur, alongside other road runs and track work.

Here is the weird part: I used to look forward to that, the way a class swot looks forward to exams. Being smaller, lighter and a committed long-distance runner all my young life, even before I became a pro footballer, it was, if not exactly a piece of cake, then certainly much easier for me than most of the rest of the team.

I have asked many modern managers what they would prefer to do in a perfect world during their pre-season. The most common answer is "just about anything other than what we are forced to do now!"

Sign up to the Football Extra Newsletter here

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan says changes to the club's structure as a result of Jurgen Klopp's departure have offered "a new energy and vision".

The Reds have brought back Michael Edwards to sit as chief executive of football for Fenway Sports Group, with the aim of helping Liverpool's owners eventually own multiple clubs.

There's a new sporting director at Anfield in Richard Hughes and a new head coach in Arne Slot.

"Jurgen departing was a seismic decision but clearly the right decision for him and his family so by extension the right decision for the club," Hogan told BBC Sport.

"He was very clear about leaving the club in a better place than where he found it and I think he has done that. The time he gave us by making the announcement when he did, gave us an opportunity to go through a proper process. Michael Edwards coming back and Richard [Hughes] and Arne joining has created a new opportunity and football structure and era going forward.

"Mike Gordon is the president of FSG and one of our owners. He is the active and managing owner in our football club and is someone I talk to quite a bit and Michael will be working closely with. Jurgen was communicating a lot with Mike. This is an opportunity for Mike to step back and Michael to make decisions on the football side. I am excited to have him back and he was part of that last era of success. There is new energy and vision.

"We want to win the league ultimately and win trophies, so with Michael's leadership and the new football structure is something we are excited about."

Some fans have criticised Liverpool's lack of movement in the transfer market this summer so far, with the Reds yet to make a significant signing. There are also key names entering the final year of their contract, including Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Hogan though explained to BBC Sport the club still wants to be run in a sustainable manner in an era where some clubs have faced penalties for breaching financial rules. The CEO hopes such rules remain tough and that punishments remain firm for clubs breaking them.

"If you go back to 2010 when FSG came in, it was something that John W Henry said at the time that we were supportive of the FFP rules," Hogan added.

"Those rules have continued to evolve and we are going through a reboot of the PSR rules to squad cost controls that mirror what UEFA has in place. But I would say from our standpoint, we have always felt the goal is for the club to be sustainable. It puts pressure on myself and team to run the club as well as we can and put revenue into the football club. There are financial regulations in place and we have always followed those rules. I think it is important that the rules have teeth and if clubs fall foul of that then the Premier League has a process to go through. We've seen that over the last year or so. And there has been a lot of conversation about new rules coming in so that will be a change but we are supportive of those rules and being sustainable. That's our goal."

Image source, Getty Images

Pat Nevin, former Chelsea, Everton and Scotland winger writing in his Football Extra newsletter:

The pre-season friendlies are in full swing and let's be straight about this, the players generally hate these games, whatever they say.

They clearly haven't had enough rest in the summer, it is a grind getting your body back into peak shape, especially if the accumulated injuries from last season haven’t been allowed to fully recover.

The games themselves are weird affairs, where you would like to win but that is nowhere near the most important thing. Fitness, integrating new players, possibly a new manager and sometimes a new system are each more important. You also know full well that it is a hotch-potch of a team selection to give players minutes. The fans, mass media and social media will read far too much into every game and every performance.

From within the team itself, there are different motivations. A young or new player being given his first chance will be racing about like an overexcited spaniel. Other experienced players will be easing themselves back into it, the primary concern in their minds is to be fit and healthy come the first weekend of the Premier League season.

‌Deep down they don't worry if they get thumped by Celtic or DC United on their US tours, nobody at Chelsea or Aston Villa will remember or care about these results in two weeks' time.

‌Unless of course you are a DC or indeed Celtic fan. The Celts just beat Chelsea and Man City. Now that is impressive pre-season form or is that just Scottish bias.

Sign up to the Football Extra Newsletter here

Mandeep Sanghera
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool have rejected an offer from PSV Eindhoven for Dutch defender Sepp van den Berg.

The bid from the Eredivisie club for the 22-year-old is believed to have been worth €10m (£8.4m) and falls well short of the Anfield club's valuation of closer to £20m for the centre-back.

Van den Berg is currently with the Reds squad on their pre-season tour in the United States and started in the club's win against Real Betis.

He joined Liverpool from PEC Zwolle in June 2019 and has since had loan spells at Preston, Schalke 04 and Mainz.

Van den Berg was with Mainz last season, making 33 league appearances and scoring three goals as he helped them secure their Bundesliga status.

The German side wanted him back but the two clubs were too far apart in their valuations for a deal to be done.

We asked for your views on Wataru Endo and Ben Doak being linked with moves away from Anfield.

Here are some of your comments:

Gareth: Have to keep Endo, he’s the most experienced defensive midfielder Liverpool have. He can be a guide for Nyoni and Bajcetic. Doak has a huge future ahead of him, he’s so direct and tricky so he has to stay too. I'm happy to sell Phillips and Van Den Berg who can do a really good job at Premier League level but needs more experience to be playing regularly at Champions League level.

Adrian: We shouldn’t be weakening the squad when nothing has been done to strengthen it yet. We have to trust that plans are in place to bring in new players that are good enough to challenge for a place in the starting XI. Only then should we be looking to loan or sell players.

Elliott: Definitely don't sell Endo, he was massively underrated last year but played a very important role in the team. In games where he was subbed off we immediately looked weaker and less composed.

Andy: Endo was a surprisingly effective last minute signing after Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia left us at the altar. However, he clearly has limitations, no surprise given his age. It’s a no brainier for me, get £11m-12m back for him and go all out for Ederson at Atalanta. We’ve known for two years we need a world class six, after Fabinho. Solving this is critical.

Daniel: We could get away with selling Endo but we must keep Doak as he has potential to be a brilliant player for us.

Michael: I would keep Endo. As for Doak I would think that he might benefit from a spell on loan.

Ken: It would make no sense to sell Endo given he is the only specialist in his position and for a hefty loss too. Doak needs to play games but his inability to stay fit is what cost him last season. I see him as an impact substitute on that right side but he could get more valuable game time on loan elsewhere. Liverpool need to make signings first!

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Harvey Elliott says Arne Slot's style of play is a typically "elegant" Dutch style - compared to Jurgen Klopp's 'heavy metal football'.

The 21-year-old started the 1-0 win over Real Betis that opened Liverpool's United States tour and was speaking before a match against Arsenal at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

When asked how Slot was evolving Liverpool from Klopp's era in charge, Elliott said: "It's very elegant. A Dutch style - it's very nice.

"The style of play is a lot different. It's more about in possession now. We play certain patterns, it is a good buzz around the team and the lads are excited to apply it in games.

"I think we [will learn it] very quickly to be honest. We have seen in the last game there were certain moments where the amazing football was free-flowing.

"It's pre-season and it is only the first couple of games and we need to keep trusting what they are teaching us. We need to keep going if things don't work out [immediately] because it is all new."

Read the full article

Wataru Endo has been the subject of a bid from Marseille, while there's interest in winger Ben Doak.

Should the Reds sell either? And who else is surplus to requirements? Tell us here, external

After Liverpool's opening 1-0 win of their pre-season tour over Real Betis, we asked you to have your say on the game.

Here are a selection of your comments:

Jamie: A really solid first game. Nowhere near our fluid best without our key players, but that will come over the course of the season. Slot definitely fills me with confidence. Worth mentioning how good Trey Nyoni looked - clearly a very, very special player.

Andy: Neat football, crisp passing, not dithering and winning the ball back quickly. The kids did really well and set a template for their better known colleagues to follow. A bright start to the Slot era.

Jacqueline: It was only 1-0, so hardly convincing. Playing with no striker here? I do hope this isn't how Slot intends to have the lads playing in the Premier League. I had never heard of him until a few days before he was named head coach. Alarm bells been ringing in my ears ever since.

Ken: The football was less frantic and the patterns of play were better on the eye with quick, sharp passing to retain possession. Took too many chances playing out from the back, though, and better opposition with a better press could pounce on those opportunities. Trey Nyoni was the breakout star showing composure and mature decision making. Good result.

Paul: Concerning how often we lost possession or were close to doing so by overplaying at the back, but expect this to improve with fitness and more senior players. Overall, a decent showing but hopefully a lot better to come. Nyoni the standout performer, bright future ahead.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo says adapting to Arne Slot's style of play is both a "challenge" and a "priority" during pre-season.

The Japan international, 31, was part of the team that beat Real Betis 1-0 in Pittsburgh on Friday.

He is now preparing to face Arsenal at a sold-out Lincoln Field in Philadelphia for the second match on Liverpool's US tour.

When asked whether Liverpool need time adapting to Slot's possession-based style of play, Endo said: "Yes, especially offensively. He wants us to play a little bit different than last season.

"I think it is a new challenge for me offensively, I always try to influence things offensively. We play a lot with the ball and have running sessions also.

"It's pre-season so we need to work ahead of the new season but I am enjoying it a lot. Personally, he is very nice. He communicates well with the players and staff."

Endo was then asked whether beating Arsenal could help Liverpool make a statement about their title credentials early on.

"I think it is too soon [to talk about trophies]," he added. "It will be a tough game, an important game for us, now it is pre-season and more about getting fit and learning how the manager wants us to play. We are talking about a lot of new tactics in the meeting as well. That's our priority."

Arsenal are in pole position to sign Sweden forward Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting Lisbon, with Liverpool not prepared to submit a bid for the 26-year-old. (Team talk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones is absent from training with an injury sustained against Real Betis in pre-season.

The details and severity of Jones's injury is unknown at this stage, but he is a doubt to face Arsenal on Wednesday.

Diogo Jota has rejoined the group after his Euro 2024 campaign and Ryan Gravenberch is expected to return tomorrow.

Defender Ibrahim Konate could also return to face Manchester United in the final match of the US tour.

Youngsters Trey Nyoni and Ben Doak are not training while their load is managed.