We round up the latest Liverpool news and transfer rumours on Thursday, as Liverpool face their first game of pre-season at Tranmere Rovers.
Van den Berg’s Debut Delayed
For those hoping to see Sepp van den Berg make his Liverpool debut at Tranmere, they will have to wait.
The club have confirmed that the 17-year-old will not feature, as he awaits FIFA clearance after joining from PEC Zwolle.
The hope is that all will be sorted in time for the clash with Bradford City on Sunday, but if not, his Liverpool bow may have to wait until the tour of America.
Van den Berg became the Reds’ first, and currently only, signing of the summer last month, with huge things expected of the teenage centre-back.
Young Pair Set to Feature at Tranmere
While Van den Berg won’t feature, a couple of other youngsters look set to do so.
Numerous star names are still not back in training, from Virgil van Dijk to Mohamed Salah, giving young hopefuls an opportunity to shine.
The Daily Mail claim that Bobby Duncan will be afforded minutes, amid speculation surrounding a loan move abroad this summer.
The striker has been linked with Borussia Dortmund, among others, but will be raring to go in the absence of several big-name attackers.
Another of those expected to feature prominently is Yasser Larouci, according to former Liverpool Echo reporter James Pearce on Twitter.
The 18-year-old left-back has impressed at Liverpool since arriving from Le Havre in 2017, winning the FA Youth Cup with the under-18s last season, along with Duncan.
With Alberto Moreno joining Villarreal and Andy Robertson still without a deputy, Larouci and Adam Lewis will both hope to impress this summer.
Mane “Proud” to Reach AFCON Semis
Sadio Mane played a key role in Senegal reaching the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals on Wednesday, providing the assist for Idrissa Gueye’s solitary goal against Benin.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Liverpool’s No.10 spoke of his pride at making it into the last four, in a competition he dreams of winning:
“We are happy and we are proud.
“It wasn’t our best match but you have to expect everything. The pitch was not great but we had to cope with it against a team that gave everything.
“We tried to push and push at the end, and created enough opportunities. We scored one goal and I think we deserved to win.”
Senegal will now face either Madagascar or Tunisia in the semis on Sunday evening (5pm BST), with the pair facing off on Thursday night (8pm).
Dabbur Denies Salah Claims
Munas Dabbur was linked with a move to Liverpool in the January transfer window, but it never came to fruition.
There were rumours suggesting the Israeli’s potential switch to Anfield didn’t happen because of Mohamed Salah, who didn’t want to play with Dabbur because of religious reasons.
Dabbur has rubbished these claims, however, saying the links to Liverpool were never remotely concrete in the first place.
“There was never an official offer [from Liverpool],” Dabbur told AS, via Sport Witness.
“They were only linked with me because I was in England on vacation.”
Dabbur is now at Sevilla, having joined the Liga club after exiting RB Salzburg in January.
Latest Nonsensical Coutinho Rumour
It’s been a quiet summer on the transfer front, making for desperation from many publications.
Philippe Coutinho is an easy player to conjure up flaky reports about and Mundo Deportivo are the latest to churn out some nonsense.
They continue to link the Brazilian with a return to Liverpool, having endured a tough time of things at Barcelona to date.
The Reds are thought to be “on alert” as they monitor Coutinho’s situation, when it reality they will be taking no notice of it.
That ship has sailed, so don’t believe anything you hear about the 27-year-old heading back to Merseyside.
