Brighton director makes James Milner point as Liverpool tie down in-demand defender

Your Liverpool digest for Friday, May 5.

Liverpool agree deal with ‘outstanding’ defender following transfer speculation

Liverpool youngster Luke Chambers has signed a new deal with the club he has been with since the age of six.

The 18-year-old has spent the second half of the season in the Scottish Premiership with strugglers Kilmarnock where he has made 11 appearances since January. He has also featured as part of the pre-season tour with Jurgen Klopp’s side and has been named in the matchday squad twice in his professional career.

Chambers was a part of Ian Foster’s England U19s squad that scored European Championships glory last summer as they beat Israel 3-1 in the final. The full-back was alongside fellow Reds prospect Jarrell Quansah for the triumph in Slovakia.

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The extension comes amid claims from Scotland that Championship side Watford were monitoring the full-back’s progress with the Ayrshire side. In April, the Daily Record’s Scott Burns wrote that Hornets technical director Ben Manga had travelled to watch Chambers against Celtic.

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Brighton break silence on James Milner transfer as Liverpool midfielder set for exit

Brighton & Hove Albion chief executive Paul Barber has refused to confirm interest in Liverpool midfielder James Milner.

The veteran is out of contract at the end of the season and his glittering spell at Anfield looks poised to come to a close. The ECHO understands that the 37-year-old will not extend his eight-year stay on Merseyside and the Seagulls are poised to be his destination.

Milner has won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup in his time on Merseyside. The versatile former England international joined on a free from Manchester City in 2015 and has been one of the most important players of the Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool.

Barber spoke to Sky Sports ahead of his team’s clash with Manchester United in the Premier League on Thursday, but was not willing to give much away about individual targets despite the strong links with Milner.

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Nottingham Forest ‘interest’ in Liverpool transfer as Gary Neville delivers brutal verdict

The Nottingham Forest headlines on Friday, May 5.

Surpise ‘interest’

Nottingham Forest have been linked with Liverpool midfielder James Milner, but it seems he already has a move lined up.

According to 90min, the Reds “are interested” in the 37-year-old, with relegation rivals Leeds United and Everton also said to be keen. All three sides are said to want the player to wait until the end of the campaign to assess his options, at which point he will be a free agent.

Milner’s Anfield deal runs out in the summer and he appears to have no shortage of suitors as an eight-year spell on Merseyside comes to an end. However, a move to Brighton and Hove Albion looks to be on the cards.

Brutal verdict

Gary Neville has tipped Nottingham Forest to be relegated from the Premier League this season.

Neville believes Forest will struggle to beat the drop because of “something he’s seen” from the team, admitting he thought the Reds have been in trouble since January.

The former Man United and England defender has also tipped Everton and Southampton to be relegated, though he admitted Forest could “easily” stay up at the expense of Leeds United.

Classy message

Rio Ferdinand has offered his “congrats” to Chris Gunter after the former Nottingham Forest man announced his retirement from the game.

The 33-year-old currently plays for AFC Wimbledon in League Two and will hang up his boots at the end of the current campaign.

Gunter played over 150 times for Forest between 2009 and 2012 having also had spells at Tottenham, Cardiff City, Reading and Charlton Athletic. The Welshman announced his retirement from international football in March having earned 109 caps for his country.

‘Critical’ showdown

Ruben Selles has ramped up the pressure on Southampton’s trip to Nottingham Forest on Monday.

The Saints boss says his team must win at the City Ground if they are to stand any chance of avoiding relegation to the Championship. The St Mary’s outfit are currently bottom of the Premier League, six points from safety with only four games left and having not won any of their last nine matches.

Forest, by contrast, are third bottom, only in the drop zone on goal difference and won their last home match – a raucous 3-1 victory over Brighton. Speaking to talkSPORT, Selles did not seek to downplay the importance of the game.

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Forest and the Clough years – get your 48-page special edition

The latest Nottingham Forest news in one place

Brian Clough is a true Nottingham Forest legend. Two European Cups, a league title, two European Super Cups, four League Cups and close to two decades of cherished memories – Cloughie really was unique.

To mark 30 years since he left the City Ground, the Nottingham Post have produced a special edition celebrating his trophy-laden time with Forest.

It includes interviews with former Reds players, stunning images from our picture archives, columnists, and plenty more.

You really don’t want to miss it!

The souvenir edition will hit the shops on April 19th, but you can PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW!

If you don’t live in the area, don’t worry – we have you covered. We will post UK and worldwide.

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Liverpool was always going to have a busy summer transfer window ahead of them — but the latest development has made it even more of a challenge.

News emerged on Thursday that James Milner is set to leave the club as a free agent in the summer. As per the Liverpool ECHO, the 37-year-old is on the verge of agreeing a deal to join Premier League rivals Brighton.

Milner has been with Liverpool for the last eight years, and his exit, should the move be completed, will be a major loss to the club, Jürgen Klopp and the players. But he is not the only one who will be heading for the exit door.

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Roberto Firmino is already confirmed to be leaving the club this summer when his contract expires. He joined Liverpool in 2015, the same summer as Milner, and will also be a great loss to the Reds and Klopp.

Liverpool has three other players who are currently out of contract this summer as things stand. They are Naby Keïta, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Adrián.

For the moment, it looks like all three will be joining Firmino and Milner in leaving the club as free agents in the summer. And they’re not the only ones, either.

Arthur Melo is near-certain to leave Liverpool this summer and return to Juventus following his loan spell with the Reds. While he has only made one appearance and played just 13 minutes so far since arriving last summer, he would still be one fewer option for Klopp to choose from next season.

James Milner and Jürgen Klopp of Liverpool

So that’s six players who are looking increasingly likely to be leaving the club for absolutely nothing in one summer. Whichever way you look at it, questions have to be asked about what Liverpool are planning for the future.

You can’t judge the club completely until the summer transfer window has concluded and Liverpool’s business is done and dusted. That will not be the case for nearly three months.

Liverpool could be losing six players for nothing, but if all of them are replaced in some way in the transfer market then not many issues will be raised at the outset. Even so, there will not be many defenses that letting six players leave in one window for nothing is the best business practice.

It must be remembered that Liverpool is no stranger to letting players run down their contracts and leave for free. Emre Can was the first big player to do so back in 2018, and he was followed by Alberto Moreno a year later, then by Adam Lallana in 2020.

That’s not all, either. Gini Wijnaldum left for nothing in the summer of 2021, and just last year, Divock Origi was another free agent exit.

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Based on all of this, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see Liverpool willing to let players leave on a free transfer when their contracts expire. What’s staggering about this summer, though, is that it’s six players who are mostly all involved in the first-team squad.

Do all six players play every week? No, but that’s not the point.

Klopp will need a big squad for next season, with the current group of players arguably smaller than it needed to be, especially when you factor in the injuries that have been suffered over the years. So if you’re automatically losing six players without bringing any money through the door, that automatically puts the club on the back foot.

We’re at the point now where it’s too late to reconsider keeping some of the players who are out of contract this summer. What matters most for Liverpool is having a plan for how to rebuild the squad going forward.

That will need to involve a significant overhaul of the playing squad, with several new arrivals needing to arrive. But it’s also important to bring in quality players who are capable of performing the way Klopp wants them to, rather than just signing individuals for the sake of it.

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