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Wirtz latest, homegrown players & Kerkez to Liverpool?

2025/6/17

Walk On: The Athletic FC's Liverpool show

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The Athletic FC Podcast Network.

All right, Reds, Tony Evans here with Walk On, your Liverpool podcast from The Athletic. I'm here with Simon Hughes and Greg Evans. And we've also got The Athletic's German football writer and regular guest, Seb Stafford-Blow, to talk about, obviously, Florian Wurz. But there'll be more on the show. We'll discuss Milos Kekes and Liverpool's homegrown play quota. But let's start with those three words. Greg, let's have three words from you.

Yeah, hello, Tony. One more year, and that's definitely not relating to Darwin Nunes. Seb, can we have three words from you? You know, something like, I don't know, something continental, something maybe bilingual in German. Maybe, you know, you can say anything you like. I'm going to be mysterious, and I'm going to expand on this later, but I'm going to go with living room footballer.

And that'll be explained in a few minutes. That enigmatic sight. What have you got?

Well, mine does have a question mark in it, but it is three words. The question mark is at the end. So it is farewell, Andy Robertson. That's a very, very good point. Well, that's what Simon, Greg and Seb think. Here's what you're saying. Alex Fogarty, don't sell Robbo. Well, picking up on you there, Si. Ray Nash, see you, Darwin. Lee Taylor, league domination awaits.

Glyn Robinson, Vase, Wednesday, anyone. I think it's probably Friday, really, but anyway, we'll go from there. To join our community of listeners on Facebook, just search Walk On Podcast and join the group. Well, say, let's talk about Vase. Obviously, it's the...

Name on everyone's lips. When's it going to happen? Well, it sounds like the medical is going to be Friday. So Liverpool... Is there going to be any issue with that? Because he has had knee injuries. Interesting, yeah. Liverpool have been in this position before with sort of high-profile attacking midfielders. Remember Nabil Fakir a few years ago? That he was all ready to sign and there was a problem. Hopefully that won't be the case with Florian Wurzbauer.

But I don't know. I mean, I'm just sort of trying to second guess how they might do this. I mean, Liverpool are a big fan of 5pm announcements, particularly on a Friday as people are piling out of work and looking at the phones. So maybe that's what they're working towards. Seb, I'll come to you. I mean, with his knees, he's had two ligaments issues, hasn't he? Do you see there being any problems?

No, I don't think so. I think one of the reasons for Florian Wirtz's career progressing as it has is because when that happened and when he missed the 2022 World Cup, he ruptured his cruciate ligament in a game against Cologne. Leverkusen were really, really patient with him. There was no hurry to get him back. They recognised this is a player that in three, four, five years is going to be either...

are pathway to a different level of the game or worth a huge amount of money. And in fact, they were right on both counts. So he was allowed a lot of time to get back. And there's been no sign of fragility ever since, Tony. Actually, what's really interesting is for a guy whose game was predicated on sharp movements and agility and just...

And getting kicked a lot, frankly, because that's the only answer a lot of defenders had for him. He's never shown any signs since of suffering from that. He actually emerged as a much better player, as a better athlete, as a stronger player too. So I can't see any problem at all. Yeah, Greg, do you think he'll have any problem adapting to the pace and physicality of the Premier League?

No, I don't think so. I think Liverpool have clearly done the homework and realise this is a guy that's going to come into the Liverpool team and improve it. You know, really invigorate a forward line that has actually just kind of won the Premier League and done pretty well already. So, no, I don't see any problems. Well, Seb, let's get to your living room player. Well, actually...

You wrote a piece in The Athletic yesterday where you said the living room footballer who still can't stand losing. Come on, explain it all. It's a great piece, by the way. Thank you. That's why you should be subscribing to The Athletic. Well, first bit first. So his sister, Julianne, who is 18 months older, she's also a professional player. She plays in the Fran, Bundesliga for Werder Bremen.

When they were young, they used to have these little one-on-one battles in the family living room down in the carpet between the sofas and the cupboards and the tables. They'd be smashing wine glasses. Also, when Florian was younger, when his mum used to give him a plate for dinner and be carrying it to the table, he'd always have a football under his feet. So a couple of years ago when he was emerging, El Freunde, the German football magazine, who I suppose are probably...

a little bit like 442 a little bit more counterculturally counterculture than that but that kind of that kind of space in German football they said to him look you know for a long time we've heard about you know street footballers you know obviously Johan Cruyff very famously credited you know sort of the the Amsterdam pavements for his awareness of space and how to maneuver in and out of tackles and that kind of stuff

So apparently when it comes to Sunday League they told you you should be in your living room.

Rather than on the pitch? Well, I barely moved on the pitch, Tony. So, yeah, that might be why. I don't know where to go with that, Tony, but thanks. No, no, no. But, I mean, I think the thought process would be he's used to having the ball in very, very tight spaces. And let's face it, he's not going to get the space in the Premier League that he got in the Bundesliga.

Well, it depends where he plays, of course, doesn't it? I mean, listening to Seb, I think it was last week, wasn't it? We spoke to him in terms of where he's expected to play. If he plays in the centre, evidently he'll be playing a slightly different role to Dominic Zoboszlai, who...

Really, you know, as developed into a player for Liverpool who sets the tone by his pressing, doesn't do so much in tight spaces really. I think with Liverpool being champions, as they did last time they were champions, they sort of found it harder for so many reasons the following season.

But teams are just more willing to sort of sit back and hit them on the counter-attack than maybe they have been in the past. You know, let's not forget Liverpool winning the title this season was a bit of a surprise and I think it's going to become harder as the season's passed, the way Liverpool play, for them to break down the opposition. So,

I suspect that's one of the main reasons why he's being brought in because if you've got a player who can work in tight spaces and unlock defences that are pretty packed, it's a good asset to have for a team that's obviously trying. I think, well, in theory, Liverpool should be trying to win the league again next season with the players that they've signed. So,

I think it'll just be... In theory, in theory. Well, they should be favourites to win the league. They are the champions and they, I think, have improved with the signings that they've made in a way that other teams haven't so far. People keep saying City. I'm still not quite sure that they're signing the level of player that they have in the past. They're signing promising players, but...

not players that are sort of in their mid, early mid-twenties, if that makes sense. The profile of the players seems a little bit different this summer in terms of their recruitment. So you can't expect those players to come in and do well straight away. I'm not saying that they won't, but I think it'll be harder for them. Whereas Liverpool are signing players, you know, who are 22, 23, 24, that age bracket. They tend to be the players that lead towards teams winning trophies, I would say. So,

So, yeah, I think he's just another part of the evolution of this team. I just think because Liverpool played a certain way last season, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to play the same way this season. Very clear to me that Arnott's a lot of manager who likes to keep the opponent guessing. So it'll be interesting to see what changes he instigates over the summer. You know, Andy Robertson might well be on his way out the club. So it's going to be, the evolution of this side is going to,

Obviously, Trent's gone to Real Madrid. It's going to be a rapid evolution. Yeah, and that kind of brings me back to my three words, really. I said one more year. And I think from a selfish point of view, I think Liverpool would probably like to keep Robertson for another year, really, just to help Kyrkis, if the move does go ahead, settle in. Because I think that...

Look, you know, losing half of your back line, losing half of the title winning back line is a little bit of a risk still, isn't it? I do think that the signings that Liverpool have made, you know, potentially could make the back line even better. But I...

Yeah.

I think from a selfish point of view, having Robertson around for another year to help Kirkess would be beneficial. Definitely, definitely. And leadership is really important. Seb, why about, talking the back line, Leverkusen's reported interest in Kwanzaa. Do you think that's something that might happen?

It's an option. Kwanzaa is part of a shortlist, I mean, um, so if they were to sign him and if Liverpool's asking price, which is around sort of 40 million euros, apparently, uh, holds true, then that would, that would be a new transfer record for Leverkusen. Um,

So big investment. He's one of several. The difficulty they have is that obviously last year they loaned Orlin Kasunu to Atlanta with an option to buy, which they've taken up. Jonathan Tarr has left on a free to go over to Bayern Munich.

Eben Tapsoba probably will stay. Pierre Hencapier probably not. So there's a lot of different defensive parts which are going to need replacing. So they're not really after one individual player in one individual style. And also because they've changed manager, the whole thing needs reconfiguring. So it's really difficult to know. And so at the moment, it's just one of several names there.

I could see it happening. He's the right profile for the league, the right profile for the team. I think he would suit some of the other players they've got there. I think it's a little bit early to predict what they might do, especially because it would be such a large investment.

Yeah, it is a fair amount of money. And let's face it, if Liverpool could get that sort of cash for Kwanzaa, it would make the Vertity look even better, wouldn't it? Anyway, Seb, thank you again. We said keep this slot open all summer. I'm sure you'll be back. And is that a live-appear tattoo I see on your arm there?

Yeah, no, I've tried to keep it out of shot. This has been really great because I've come from a place where we talk about, oh, you know, maybe this summer we can sign a midfielder who can pass a football to kind of be nice if we had our European Cup winning fullback stick around for a couple of years just to compliment our other two really, really excellent fullbacks that we've got and our two world-class goalkeepers and...

oh, you know, we signed for Inverts and broken the British transfer record, but maybe we can do a bit more. I like this. This is better. I like it. This is a good time to come on. I can feel myself settling down here. This is great. Excellent. Well, thank you, as always, for your time. Thanks, mate. And excellent stuff.

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How are you Tony and the lads? Including your newly minted German correspondent. Wirt sounds great in a Dublin accent too. It's John from Dublin here and I'm just wondering with the talk of the likes of Harvey Elliott and perhaps Gerald Kwanza being sold and Trent no longer in the side will Liverpool have a potential homegrown problem next season? If so

Who from the current ranks of low-knees or academy players might realistically step up and challenge for a place, at least in the squad next season? And who do you think might replace any sales of homegrown players? I know Anthony Gordon is a name being thrown about. As an aside, I'm a big fan of Pachetic, this season's loan travails notwithstanding.

Do you think he has a place next season? And how well regarded is he by the club? I'd love to get any insight you have. Slán, John. Oh, and I love the show. Well, Greg, you're the man to answer that because you wrote an excellent piece on the athletic, on exactly this topic, didn't you? Tell us all about it. Explain it to us. Make it all make sense.

Yeah, I did actually. And full disclosure, it did need a little bit of extra clarification from the Premier League just to make sure I had all the facts correct. So you're allowed to, football clubs are allowed to include up to 17 non-homegrown players in their squad. And

The plan is to try and get eight homegrown players in the 25-man squad then. But depending on how many homegrown players you announce, it doesn't make any difference on the amount of non-homegrown players that you can include. So hopefully I've explained that well. But basically, Liverpool named 15 players

non-homegrown players in their squad last season. So remember that the maximum that they can have is 17. They've already signed Jordi Guimama-Ville, so that will go up one. And then we know that Jeremy Frimpong, he's classed as a homegrown player because of his background in

In the Manchester City academy, but Kierkegaard and Wirtz and any other player that Liverpool want to sign in the future from a non-homegrown background will obviously add to that quota. So the issue with Liverpool this season is that Trent Alexander-Arnold has already gone. Vít Jarosz is going to Ajax on loan. Kelleher has already left. I think that's all of them. But then there's obviously the issues around Liverpool.

Kwanzaa around Harvey Elliott, Tyler Morton so there's lots of homegrown players that are facing an uncertain future so the quota is going to come right down

Some of the younger players can step up. Conor Bradley will be classed as a homegrown player next season because he's no longer under 21 years old. The same for Elliot and Kwanzaa if they stick around at the club. To cut a very long story short, the main issue Liverpool have is that they can only name 17 non-homegrown players and they're going to be pushing that limit. So they're probably going to have to move players on.

Hmm, interesting to say. Are there any academy players who can step up? And, you know, John said he was a huge fan of Bocetich. Do you see him playing a role? I'm not sure. Mainly because of the position that he plays. It's pretty stacked in that area now. I guess it might depend on what he decided to do with Wataru Endo, because he plays a similar role, but...

He fills that role pretty well in terms of coming off the bench, shoring things up, never really lets you down, player that you can just throw on for the last 20 minutes. It depends whether he wants to go and play more football at this stage of his life. So maybe there might be a route in there, but then again, I'm sure somebody like Bissettich will want to play more football, given his age as well. So...

I can't imagine the idea of coming up and being a backup and potentially getting on every now and again is very attractive, even if it is for Liverpool. The one player that I think might have a chance, given we've spoken about Andy Robertson, is the left-back Owen Beck. He's played a fair bit in the Championship and in Scotland over the last couple of years and has developed. I think he's 22 now. I think he has played for the first team on a couple of occasions. So maybe he might end up becoming...

you know, an option at left back if Robertson moves on. Sometimes now, you know, people talk about the next player coming through. I mean, I remember when I was a much younger person, everybody seemed to know who the next big star was coming through, whether it was Robbie Fowler or Michael Owen. It's not quite like that anymore. There's not as many secrets. I think as well, a lot of it's about the circumstance of the first team in terms of their needs at that particular time. We've seen players come into the first team at Liverpool and

I don't know, like Nico Williams, he wasn't spoken about as a potential first team player. As he was coming through the system, got his chance under Steven Gerrard, a player who then got into the first team, did quite well, got a move to Nottingham Forest and is now valued quite highly. There's an element of chance and luck as well as ability and timing with all of this.

I know he won't count as a homegrown player, but the one everybody talks about is Rio Ngamoa. I always got his surname wrong, but he was a player that obviously Liverpool signed from Chelsea. A lot of clubs were trying to sign him. I remember being in Florence a couple of years ago doing a report about the England team

I think it was England of the 15s or 16s at the time and he was the player that all the scouts were talking about. He's since played for the first team, plays in an area of the pitch where there might become an opening over the next couple of years, you know, a bit of uncertainty about what happens with Luis Diaz, still only 16, 17, pushing on this season, or next season, should I say.

So he will be the most likely one to get a chance just because Liverpool have, you know, pushed the boat out to get him to come to the club. As for the other younger players, I just think, again, it's about time and a lot of the, you know, on a lot of occasions, if you get a chance on the first team and train well and impress the manager, then,

I think, you know, that there's a chance that you might have a career when sometimes the youth coaches might not think quite so highly of you. They might not be the one who's earmarked as the player to go on and become either a squad player or even an established player. So,

It will be interesting to see how Liverpool handle that because we've spoken about Harvey Elliott, you know, Gerald Kwanzaa, players who are good players and probably should be playing first team football, but are they good enough to play for a team that's trying to win in theory? You like that in theory words? Words, the Premier League and the Champions League. John mentions Anthony Gordon and that's been around. I find it hard to believe that that's going to happen. What are your thoughts on that?

Yeah, I don't really see a spot for him at the moment. I mean, there was some interest last summer, wasn't there? But you just can't see it now, especially if Diaz sticks around and just the options Liverpool have got going forward. But just a couple of other players to add to some of the ones that Si mentioned there.

James McConnell and Jadon Dans were players who featured two seasons ago. And, you know, Lewis Kumas will be coming back from a pretty successful own spell at Stoke. And then there's obviously the young Trae Agnone, who's featured, you know, in some of the cup competitions for Liverpool this season. So there's the chance that slot decides to perhaps move on some of those more established homegrown players like Morton and

and Kwanzaa and then just replenish them with the next younger batch. But then you've also got the issue of those players needing to go out on loan at some point as well to further their development. And then in the goalkeeping ranks as well, Harvey Davis is probably an obvious one because he's still only 21 years old, so he can fit in and replace the departing Jarosz. But with Gordon, I don't see that happening now, although there was some interest earlier

And then, you know, if Liverpool are looking at other potential players, maybe there are plenty in the Premier League that could be very useful for the club. Yeah, so one of the things that Klopp was very keen on was getting the young players training with the squad, getting them into the team, getting them playing time. Slot doesn't seem quite as inclined to do that. Yeah, it was an interesting change of approach, really, because Klopp,

Certainly initially, he wasn't a massive believer in the loan system. He thought the younger players were better served by training regularly with the quality that Liverpool have at the training ground. So I couldn't understand that logic there.

Say you're a left-back and you're coming up against Mo Salah in training, there's a lot to be cleaned from that experience, I would say, because you're not going to probably get better than that in the competition that you might be going into, whether that's in League One or the Championship. Maybe sometimes players need...

Just a dose of reality as well. It's not just about the actual standard of the football. It's about the experience of going out of the comfort zone and having to play for three points and knowing what that three points means to a club and a staff.

But Slott, obviously, he did give chances to some of the young players in the pre-season last summer. And it seemed quite promising for some of them. Certainly, Greg mentioned Trey Neone there. I think he did very well in the US. But when it came to the actual real stuff, he lends firmly on the experience and did throughout most of the season, really. Only really in the League Cup, in one or two of the rounds, he sort of shake things up a little bit.

but by and large, you know, certainly the first team, he went with the strongest team that he had available always. So I think it just shows, you know, to get into this Liverpool team that the standard has to be incredibly, incredibly high. You know, it's a,

It's developing into what... I mean, they got beat by the eventual Champions League winners this year very narrowly in terms of the results. I guess people will say PSG should have got a lot more in Paris and Liverpool may be a little bit unlucky to lose the game at Anfield. But, you know, that's what they've got to beat, really, to prove themselves as...

as a worthy European champion, but that's what the target is for Liverpool. So if you're going to be a young player, you have to be good enough to play at the highest level in the Champions League, really. So it's such a high level. The jump is enormous. It's very hard to find that bridge between the youth system where, you know, the level...

you know, the level is nowhere near it, if we're being honest. And only very few players can make that jump. And I think it's becoming harder now. It's becoming even harder than it was before because of the intensity of the games, you know, because of the expectation on footballers, all the surrounding noise. I think it's very hard to break into a team, particularly a Liverpool team. So,

Yeah, I mean, it's going to be interesting to see how he handles it. I mean, Liverpool as well, you know, are operating in a real economic world and mentioned some of the players there, Tyler Morton, you know, they're going to be expecting to get at least 10, 15 million pounds for a player like him, which they've obviously invested in over a long period of time. So I think Liverpool see it as an economic stream for them. A long time, Liverpool didn't make money out of the academy players. You know, it was sort of,

the players were just let go and ended up signing for either lower league clubs, non-league clubs or dropping out altogether. It is good that Liverpool are now making money on their academy players and those players are having careers elsewhere and, you know, in a lot of cases going into the Championship and doing well for themselves. So,

That is the sort of the other purpose of the academy. Great. That answer was longer than some players' careers, but thankfully it was full of insight. Yeah. No, but in all seriousness, yeah, I think it is. It's very, very difficult to be a young player. And as Si says, you've got balance, giving them experience and...

making sure that the first team win. But it is a very delicate balance because a lot of these young players are of that age where they need to be playing. You can't be sitting on the bench. That makes it awkward, really. Yeah, totally. And look, you know, another aspect of that is that Slott likes working with a smaller squad, doesn't he? He likes a close-knit group.

And Liverpool have got the nucleus of that group already. So breaking in, you have to just be so much better. And, you know, you look across the real top teams in Europe, you know, Real Madrid, Barcelona, very rarely do they look at this point in time, they've got one or two, but very rarely do they have players that come through and immediately make a difference. So it's just so difficult, isn't it?

Well, Si, are you happy with the transfer activity this summer and the way Liverpool are spending the money? It's really exciting, isn't it? I mean, unprecedented, really. I mean, Liverpool, it feels like, are leading the markets at the moment, which... The transfer ultras can't complain about anything, can they? They still do, like... Well, all the players, you know, if they get the three players that it seems they're likely to get, so Frimpong, Wirtz and Kerk has...

You know, it's a very promising start to the summer. Where are we with Kirchhurst? It sounds... Well, I am not a journalist who spends too much time trying to figure out transfer activity. My role's a little bit different. But reading between the lines, it seems like it's ready to go. There's just some sort of smaller details to iron out. I mean, the bottom line is Liverpool aren't playing any games until next month. They won't be starting training. So it's not like they're in a desperate rush to get this deal done straight away. The player...

by all accounts, wants to join Liverpool. Nobody else is in the market for them. They're ahead of everybody else. So it doesn't feel like anybody's going to come in from the cold and use up Liverpool. There's only maybe one or two clubs in European football who can do that now. Liverpool are obviously the best team in England at the moment. Feels like players would still prefer to go and play for Real Madrid over Liverpool. But beyond Real Madrid, Liverpool, PSG, Real Madrid, maybe Bayern Munich.

other clubs, the players right across Europe want to play for. So they're in a good position there. You know, they're in a very good position. And, you know, in the past, we've criticised Liverpool for not taking advantage of the position. It feels like they are, but it also feels like

It needs to happen as well, though, this time. I guess 2019, we've criticised them in the past when they won the Champions League, but it did feel like that wasn't the end of the cycle for that Liverpool team. It did feel like there was another thing to achieve, at least another season left in some of these players' legs. Maybe they should have signed

you know, one or two, you know, world-class additions, but they did win the league the next year. The problems then arrived the following season when you've got COVID rolled into it, the, you know, the financial situation that all clubs were facing. I suspect in that, that COVID, some of them didn't, they didn't, they didn't operate as they ordinarily would or a champion ordinarily would. It feels like Liverpool are,

to winning the league like league winners. Yeah, yeah, definitely. I thought it was interesting, Greg, that Bournemouth have signed a left-back, Adrian Truffaut from Rennes in France. That seems like a signal that, you know, Kerkhiz is on the bus already. Yeah, I mean, I think just not really much more to add on from what Si says. You know, we expect it to go ahead. It's just a case of formalising it all now and just...

Yeah, we often forget, don't we, that transfers that they take, especially multi-million pound transfers like this one, they take a lot of negotiating to get all the little finer things done. So all the noises we hear is good. It's £45 million too much for a left back. I mean, one of the things about Andy Robertson and everyone talks about is how cheap he was.

I remember at the time, a very senior figure in football sort of scoffed a little bit about the Andy Robertson. He said to me, he said, Liverpool are in the same market as Burnley now. And that didn't age well. Yeah, I mean, look, Andy Robertson's probably one of the bargain signings of Liverpool's history, isn't he? If you go through them, he would be in the top 10 for sure. You know, fantastic value for money for what he's done for the club.

I think Liverpool have just this position of power where they don't have to necessarily worry too much now about going and getting players at that stage before. Yes, it would obviously help if they had signed Kyrkos from Hazard Altmaier and developed him in the way that Bournemouth have because they would have got him for a fraction of the price but...

amount of money that Liverpool generate you know they've had a record breaking season with their commercial activity back in the Champions League you know attracting better sponsors every single year they don't have to worry too much they can go and buy these plug-in and play players that you can plug in and play and are red so yeah I

I don't get too carried away or worried about the figures, really. I think we listen to supporters saying, I wouldn't be paying £45 million for him or why are we paying £50 million for him when we could pay £25 million for him? It's the club's money, who cares? Let them pay it. They've got it. Yeah. And, you know, you have to trust the recruitment department, don't you, say, if they think he's worth the money, then give them the market now. I can understand the conversation, Tony, I can, because...

You know, I still think he can get value, you know, good value on it. It does seem, you know, as a going race, it is a lot of money. But as Greg says, if you've got the money and he is a guarantee, I mean, they have to think that he's a guarantee. You know, there's a guarantee that this player is going to go and become Liverpool's left back for at least the next five years.

for four years, maybe Salomon, you know, because that's what Liverpool got away from, I would say, which is why they had a few years of uncertainty. Liverpool...

At their best, you know, throughout history, I've always been able to get players 22, 23, get the best four years out of them, sell them on just as they're going over the hill to a club with greater resources who has just as much use of them, but for less time, I would say. That's what Liverpool have to sort of get back to if they're going to pursue this economic growth.

model that they have because they went away from it and I think they kept players for a little bit too long which is why they had sort of problems for a few years you know the drop-offs were so dramatic there's lots of different reasons for that and we discussed it before you know there's certain players who maybe they should have tried to move on maybe they did and that they weren't able to you know we're not privy to that information but for me and he's been a very impressive very powerful strong runner can get up and down the pitch again it's a sign to me that Liverpool are

will play slightly differently this season. Andy Robertson hasn't been expected to get up the pitch quite as much under Arna Slott. I can't imagine they're going to just say to Milos Kirka, who's been going up and down the wing, you just stay there and be solid defensively. They're going to want him to play in the final third. So how they use him is going to be interesting.

I think he's really impressed me in the games that I've seen. I guess the only thing, the only question mark is, can he step up from playing at Bournemouth where there are less expectations and no European responsibilities, playing regularly for a team that has all that? Greg, it is part enticing prospect, but it makes me a little bit nervous in some ways to think,

Frimpong and Kirkers, both of them, the strengths are getting forward rather than, you know, speaking to someone, you know, within the game, he was talking about Frimpong and he says, he's very, very good, you know, bombing down the line, but he might well get caught out against the better teams. And there is a,

Even more than the Trent-Anti-Robertson axis, there's the possibility of lots of space behind the full-backs if indeed it ends up to be a Frimpong-Kerchers combination. Yeah, and again, that's what I go back to saying, it's...

what I said earlier in the podcast, it is a little bit of a risk, isn't it? Losing 50% of your back line that's won you the Premier League effectively. So it'll be interesting to see how Liverpool adapt. Clearly, Slott thinks that they're going to get better by signing these players in a different type of way.

I think what we'll see more is Frimpong will be overlapping Salah and Salah might start to come slightly more inside, which we did see a little bit more this season. Liverpool are adamant that Frimpong isn't the direct replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold. So, you know, will we see kind of Bradley playing there?

a little bit maybe more often and Frimpong push forward I just think it's just very early in the summer because we haven't seen any sort of pre-season friendlies or anything or how they are going to set up with this new with these new personnel but

Yeah, the one thing about Frimpong is he's just ridiculously quick. So if there is a mistake that he makes, he can very quickly recover just purely through his pace. And look, you've got to remember, this is a guy that was part of a Bayer Leverkusen team that won the German League and Cup double and went 40-odd games unbeaten. So he's got quality.

Thank you.

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Si, I see that Greg there mentioned Sala. Apparently you've written a book called Chasing Sala, which is everyone's beachside reading. Yes, yes. The paperback will be out in August as well, by the way. Oh, okay. Updates? Updates, yeah. Updates. Updates.

I think it's August the 17th. I might be wrong. I should know that, shouldn't I, really? Well, you know, it's... Get the hell back before the feedback happens. But the point really is it's going to be a very different... Look, I mentioned this earlier in the podcast, and I'm really excited about how they're going to set up, how they're going to play. Yeah, I am as well. It's not going to be the same Liverpool, I'm sure of that. I mean...

What really sort of impressed me with Arnaud Slott was, I think he's obviously demanding of the players, but I don't think he overcomplicated the football last season. I think it was very much full-backs, just do your job properly first and foremost as much as you can. And the use of the full-backs is quite important really because when he was a fine old, I mean, I went to watch one of the games and the right back was sometimes appearing as a centre-forward player.

And the left back was an additional centre-half, really, in a lot of the phases of the play. Very sort of Guardiola-esque. And naturally, when you become a Liverpool manager, you think, well, he's going to do a similar thing with Trent Alexander-Arnold. But he didn't. He just asked Trent to stay back, largely, and just hook passes up towards Salah. And Andy Robertson was just a traditional defensive left back, really.

I think that will change. I think it probably has to change to make Liverpool less predictable. And Salah perhaps might be central to that.

We'll see. I think the double header against PSG really opened slot's eyes to the way that PSG play with Mendes and Hakima and just how deadly they were with those two wing-backs almost, often coming into central areas but also overlapping at the same time as well and just being so unpredictable. And I think that he really liked the way that PSG played and perhaps could see his side playing in a similar way.

Hmm, yeah, interesting. And is Giovanni Von Broncos close to joining the coaching staff, say? Yeah, that is really, really took me by surprise, I've got to say. I mean, he's had a reasonably good coaching career himself. Besiktas, I think he was in China for a bit. Rangers as well. And Feyenoord, he won the league. Did he win the league with Feyenoord, Greg? I think he did, didn't he? Yes, he did, yes. He's had quite a good coaching career. Got Rangers to the...

to the Europa League final a couple of years ago. So, yeah, it's... I'm surprised, but I'm also not surprised because quite obviously he replaces Johnny Heitinger, who's a relatively high-profile name in both Premier League and Dutch football. So quite clearly, Slot likes having a name in there, somebody whose reputation holds a bit of sway. Van Bronckhorst has played in the Premier League, of course, for Arsenal, so...

It'd be interesting to hear from him exactly why he's decided to sort of maybe take a step back and go, you know, sort of to a role which isn't front-facing. But it'd be interesting to see what he offers because there was, you know, quite a lot of high-profile names linked with that role and his name wasn't one of them. He replaces somebody in Heitinger who was very much involved, you know, in the training session. So I think he'll get a fair amount of freedom with his work. And just before we go, Greg...

Apparently there's this Club World Cup thing, which, I mean, have you even the remotest interest in?

Well, as a professional writer and employee of The Athletic, I'm going to have to say yes. But this is a very media-trained answer. I haven't watched a minute. I'll be totally honest with you. I haven't watched a minute of it. But because my role over the summer will incorporate some of the Club World Cup stuff, I will try reluctantly to get into it. So, come on. So, I have got no interest in the football whatsoever.

But what I am interested in is... Ah, you're interested in getting a trip over there. Well, who's that? Extending your globetrotting reputation. I will not be going to the US. I went to South Africa last month.

to do a piece with Mamelodi Sundowns, their leading football club. But what interests me is why people are interested in it and the motivations behind it. I'm almost watching FIFA scurry around trying to tell everybody how great this tournament is. So, yeah, I mean, it's not without interest, but in terms of the actual football...

I couldn't at this stage care less, but don't get me wrong, if somebody was sending me to the US, I probably, my interest would peak a little bit more maybe. Who knows? Simon Hughes raps out, come and get me. Yeah. You know what the thing is, what I will say is though, Tony, that there are a lot of clubs in other parts of the world who are very much interested in this because they don't get the opportunity to play the European clubs. You know, I think we're,

you know, all a bit, a bit tired of sort of the long, you know, how long the football season is. And this is just an extension of that now. And it's sort of at the moment just feels like an extension of pre-season or post-season.

where they just sort of merge into one. Whereas there are other clubs in other parts of the world who are just as tired, but they're really looking forward to getting the chance to compete against some of the European clubs. So I can understand why their motivation is a bit greater because we tend to see...

Asian, African, even South American football through the national teams rather than through the club teams where there's a lot going on with some of these club teams and some interesting stories to tell. So from that perspective, I am interested in it, but the actual matches, not so much.

Well, I think we'd all be a lot more interested if Liverpool were in it. Exactly. So that's it from Walk On, your Liverpool podcast brought to you by The Athletic. And thanks to Simon, Greg and Seb earlier. And you two for listening. We'll be back next week. Catch you then. The Athletic FC Podcast Network.

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Wirtz latest, homegrown players & Kerkez to Liverpool? 41:23 Share

Walk On: The Athletic FC's Liverpool show

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Wirtz latest, homegrown players & Kerkez to Liverpool?