Michael Edwards must repeat Liverpool transfer trick to sign Gini Wijnaldum replacement

Liverpool have had a fairly quiet summer transfer window so far, with the early excitement of Ibrahima Konate followed by a long period of speculation but little movement. While a £36million deal for Konate was wrapped up early in the summer, a replacement for Gini Wijnaldum remains outstanding.

Wijnaldum moved on to Paris Saint-Germain when his Liverpool contract expired at the end of June, leaving a gap in Jurgen Klopp’s midfield.

Harvey Elliott has impressed in a central role in pre-season and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita are both currently fit, but there remains a sense that Liverpool could do with a new player.

Brighton’s Yves Bissouma, Ajax’s Ryan Gravenberch, Leicester’s Youri Tielemans, Rennes’ Eduardo Camavinga, Borussia Monchengladbach’s Florian Neuhaus and Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez, among many others, have all been touted as Wijnaldum successors.

But, whether Liverpool want any of those players, they have a major problem: money.

The Reds simply don’t have the funds to do what Manchester United have done by splashing out £73million on Jadon Sancho and £34m, which could rise to £43m, on Raphael Varane.

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While some are high-profile players who you would expect big money for – think Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona – £142m) – the vast majority are fringe players the club were keen to offload.

Mamadou Sakho (Crystal Palace – £26m), Danny Ward (Leicester – £12.5m), Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth – £19m), Ryan Kent (Rangers – £7.5m), Danny Ings (Southampton – £20m), Ki-Jana Hoever (Wolves – £13.5m) and Rhian Brewster (Sheffield United – £23.5m) are the most notable sales over the past five years.

Edwards has been busy this summer too, flogging Marko Grujic (Porto – £10.5m), Taiwo Awoniyi (Union Berlin – £6.5m) and Harry Wilson (Fulham – £12m).

Altogether, including the other youngsters sold, Edwards has brought in around £270m in sales since he took the helm five years ago. But there is plenty more work to be done.

According to Goal, Neco Williams, Nat Phillips, Xherdan Shaqiri, Takumi Minamino, Loris Karius and Divock Origi are all up for sale.

Williams is valued at around £7m by Liverpool, Phillips has attracted interest from Burnley following some solid performances last season and has a £15m price tag, while the Reds want around £10m for Shaqiri, whose chances of joining Lazio were boosted by some eye-catching performances for Switzerland at Euro 2020.

Minamino and Karius could prove harder to shift after unremarkable loan spells away from the club last season, while Origi is unlikely to have a long queue of suitors.

However, Edwards has proven he has the Midas touch in the transfer market. If he can sell even half of those six players then the transfer fees – and money saved in wages – could be reinvested in a new midfielder.

With Manchester City ready to splash the cash on Harry Kane and Jack Grealish and United already bolstered by Sancho and Varane, Liverpool are at risk of being left behind.

Edwards holds the key to making sure that eventuality does not come to pass.

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