Liverpool and Tottenham Pursue Andreas Schjelderup Amid Transfer Market Dynamics
Liverpool and Tottenham are circling one of Norway’s brightest talents, with Benfica winger Andreas Schjelderup emerging as a live option in a market increasingly shaped by soaring prices and shrinking margins for error.
At Anfield, the rebuild out wide has already begun. Liverpool have beaten Newcastle United to Victor Munoz in a €40m (£34.5m) move, a decisive first step in reshaping an attack that has lost its most reliable weapon. Munoz arrives to push Cody Gakpo on the left, a position the Dutchman has often made his own.
But the gaps are obvious. Mohamed Salah has walked away on a free, leaving a hole in goals, assists and aura. Gakpo may also be asked to plug another one, with the Dutchman potentially needed through the middle to ease the load on Alexander Isak until Hugo Ekitike returns from an Achilles injury.
So Liverpool keep looking.
Schjelderup on the radar
Into that picture steps Schjelderup, fresh from a World Cup campaign with Norway and a breakout season under Jose Mourinho at Benfica. According to Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb, Liverpool are tracking the 22-year-old closely. Tottenham are, too.
They are not alone. Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Como are also watching, aware that Schjelderup’s numbers and versatility fit the modern wide-forward profile. Ten goals and seven assists in 43 games last season, in a Benfica side that went unbeaten in the Primeira Liga yet somehow still finished without the trophy, have pushed his name up recruitment lists across Europe.
Benfica paid €14m to bring him in. That already looks like a bargain. Reports suggest his value has more than doubled, with an initial €30m (£26m) figure floated. But in Portugal, the bar is being set higher. Record report that Benfica will not even pick up the phone for less than €40m.
That has not deterred Spurs. The same outlet claims Tottenham have “burst” into the race, intensifying competition with Liverpool, a stance backed up by TMW. For a player who operates mainly off the left, inverting onto his stronger foot and driving at full-backs, the interest makes sense.
For Liverpool, though, there is a complication. Munoz has already strengthened that side of the pitch. Another left-sided specialist might not be the priority, no matter how high the ceiling.
Diomande remains the prize
Because the real obsession at Anfield is Yan Diomande.
Liverpool’s pursuit of the RB Leipzig winger has become one of the summer’s defining sagas. Talk on Thursday suggested the club had escalated their push, with claims of a second bid raised to €116m (£100m) after an opening €100m (£86m) offer was knocked back.
That story did not last long. Sky Germany’s Philipp Hinze moved quickly to shut it down, calling the reports “not true” and making it clear there has been no second offer yet. Inside Liverpool, the debate continues: whether to go back in, and how high to go if they do.
Figures of €116-120m (up to £104m) are being discussed. That kind of money would force Leipzig to think, test their resolve, and perhaps open the door to a sale. But even that might fall short.
On June 19, it emerged that Leipzig are holding out for a Bundesliga-record €148m (£128m). They want Diomande to stay at least one more year, to lead another title push and to keep the club’s negotiating position as strong as possible in a market where elite wide forwards are scarce.
Liverpool know the cost. They also know the upside. Diomande is equally dangerous on either flank, a two-sided threat who can switch wings mid-game and change the angles of attack instantly. In an evolving forward line, that flexibility is gold.
Compared to that, Schjelderup feels more like an opportunity than a plan. A talent worth monitoring, a player who could become available at the right price, but not the one around whom Liverpool are currently building their strategy.
Tottenham’s angle is different. With Ange Postecoglou reshaping his front line and constantly seeking aggressive, high-energy wide options, Schjelderup’s profile fits cleanly. For Spurs, a €40m fight with Benfica may be a stretch, but it is not out of the question.
For Liverpool, the calculation is harsher. Commit to the eye-watering fee Leipzig want for Diomande, or pivot to a more affordable, more positional-specific winger like Schjelderup and accept a different kind of rebuild.
The window will answer one question very clearly: how much is a truly elite, two-footed wide forward worth to a club that has just lost Mohamed Salah?
