Richard Hughes laid down the law at Liverpool by blocking two exits, much to the players’ dismay.
Liverpool’s transfer business was limited in 2024/25. Only Federico Chiesa was added to the squad, with Giorgi Mamardashvili signing on a one-year delay.
In terms of outgoings, there were a few but Liverpool only really sold players who hadn’t been a part of the first-team squad. Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho, for instance, both joined Brentford for fairly substantial fees.
Really, though, Liverpool decided to keep the same squad that Jurgen Klopp had. Arne Slot wasn’t given anything particularly dazzling to work with (considering how often Federico Chiesa has played) but the Reds also didn’t take anything away.
Adrian, Thiago, and Joel Matip all left on free transfers at the end of the season, but none of them contributed significantly to the previous season. Indeed, the latter two have retired.
And so it’s been a deliberate plan by Richard Hughes to keep things intact. Much to the frustration of at least two players.
Liverpool reject bids
As per the Mirror, Liverpool rejected offers to sell Caoimhin Kelleher last summer. That left the player ‘frustrated’ as he was eager to depart for first-team football.
And he’s not the only player who didn’t like Liverpool’s decision to keep them. Football Insider reports that Darwin Nunez was ‘unhappy’ that he wasn’t allowed to move to Saudi Arabia in January.
Anfield Watch exclusively revealed that Nunez had received an offer from Saudi Arabia. Liverpool, on the other hand, did not want to sell in the middle of the season because they are competing for major championships.
Hughes made some bold decisions, at the end of the day. He’s potentially leaving a lot of money on the table, since Nunez will almost probably receive lower offers in the summer.
Kelleher, too, is entering the final year of his contract. This automatically lowers his value.
However, if it results in the Premier League trophy, no one will be disappointed. Hughes took responsibility here, retaining players who wanted to leave.
And it was exactly the right decision.
