Liverpool's Transfer Talk: Wharton, Barcola, and Midfield Dynamics
Liverpool’s summer has barely settled into a rhythm, yet the noise around Anfield is already deafening. Midfield rebuilds, wide forwards, right-back reinventions – everyone seems to have an opinion on what the club should do next. Some of those voices carry real weight.
MacAnthony’s big Wharton call
Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony, a lifelong Liverpool supporter, has nailed his colours to one particular mast: Adam Wharton.
"I'd love them to sign Wharton," he told talkSPORT, before turning the spotlight on Alexis Mac Allister’s engine. "I think Alexis Mac Allister, for me, his legs were gone last year. It was only when he put an Argentina shirt on that his legs reappeared."
MacAnthony didn’t stop there. He floated a scenario that would raise eyebrows on Merseyside – Mac Allister making way, Wharton coming in.
"If you could do business there with him going, I think you bring [Wharton] in and you’ve got a player for the next seven, eight years that will be a starter.
He's got so much upside and potential in him. Even if he costs £85M-£100M or whatever else, you’re getting the player for the long-term."
A bold valuation. An even bolder suggestion: cashing in on a World Cup winner to build around a 20-year-old Crystal Palace midfielder.
Barcola, Salah and a changing attack
While MacAnthony looks at the middle of the pitch, Alan Smith is eyeing the flanks. The former Arsenal striker believes Bradley Barcola could be a smart piece of Liverpool’s post-Mohamed Salah puzzle.
"He's played on the left for PSG," Smith said. "He can play on the right, so it's not as if you would earmark him as a like-for-like replacement for Mohamed Salah.
But it looks like he's going to move if PSG can accept a fee. It seems to be between Liverpool and Arsenal. He's a talented player; we saw that in the World Cup. He'd be a great signing for Liverpool."
Speaking to Liverpool.com on behalf of Best Betting Sites, Smith underlined the scale of the task if Salah departs.
"With Salah going, a like-for-like replacement in terms of goal output is a priority."
Then came a twist. Smith pointed towards other solutions to the goals problem.
"But the thing is, with Alexander Isak back fit, Hugo Ekitike is going to be out for a few months, but Isak got himself a goal the other day in pre-season, so he's well capable of getting 20 plus league goals.
So that might be an answer for them with Salah going. And Florian Wirtz, second season, he can chip in, get well into double figures. But I'd still think that they'll be after a striker or an attacking player."
Barcola, Isak, Wirtz. Different profiles, same question: where do Liverpool find the goals and threat that have defined the Salah era?
Trent, Dumfries and Mourinho’s whiteboard
At the back, another pillar of Liverpool’s modern identity faces a new kind of scrutiny. With Denzel Dumfries heading to Real Madrid, Trent Alexander-Arnold will not have a free run at right-back this season.
Reports in Spain have suggested Jose Mourinho could shift him into midfield, a long-debated move that would throw him into a crowded area of the pitch. There are already plenty of players who can operate there.
What nobody doubts is his quality. He is too good to be squeezed out. One way or another, Alexander-Arnold will get minutes – the question is where he does his damage in a Mourinho side and how that reshapes Liverpool’s structure around him.
Gerrard’s phone call that changed everything
Amid all the speculation about who might arrive or move position, Steven Gerrard has lifted the lid on a moment that helped define Liverpool’s recent past.
Back in 2017, Virgil van Dijk stood at a crossroads: Liverpool or Manchester City. Before he chose, he picked up the phone.
"He phoned me at the time, actually," Gerrard revealed. "I knew his agent really well. It was City, Liverpool.
He said to me, ‘I haven’t phoned you to sort of push me one way or the other, because I know which way you’re going to push me. But just tell me a little bit about Liverpool?’"
Gerrard’s response was pure Anfield.
"I just said to him, ‘Look, if it’s about what the clubs stand for and what the clubs are about, you’re wasting your time because I think you already know the answer to that.’"
It was an interesting conversation and I was so happy that he chose us.
Van Dijk’s decision reshaped Liverpool’s defence and, in many ways, the club’s modern history. The current recruitment debate unfolds in the shadow of that call.
McTominay name-checked for Anfield
One of the more surprising transfer ideas has come from former Manchester United assistant coach Rene Meulensteen. He believes Liverpool should be looking at Scott McTominay, now at Napoli.
"McTominay has Gerrard-esque qualities and would suit Liverpool, he's one of those midfielders that can get you goals, now how many of those midfielders are around today?" Meulensteen told Tipman Tips.
"He brings physicality, energy, drive, braveness, courage, goals, and makes good box runs.
I've been very impressed with him since he left United because that could have easily been the start of his career fizzling out. But with Scott it’s the total opposite, he has bloomed and come to life."
From Wharton to McTominay, the midfield wish list grows, each suggestion framed by the same theme: legs, power, goals from deep.
Quiet kick-off, loud questions
Away from the transfer talk, Liverpool’s preparations continue. The behind-closed-doors clash with Como this weekend has been nudged forward, now kicking off at 11.30am (UK time) instead of midday. The later fixture, in front of fans, stays at 6pm (UK time).
No spectators will see the first game in person, but the club will stream it through official channels. Another small step in pre-season, another chance for coaches to weigh up who might answer the big questions that refuse to go away.
Who replaces Salah’s goals? Who anchors the midfield for the next decade? And where, exactly, does Trent Alexander-Arnold write his next chapter?
