Liverpool
Fifth Liverpool exit confirmed before summer as $40m Jürgen Klopp transfer call clear for ages
Fifth Liverpool exit confirmed before summer as $40m Jürgen Klopp transfer call clear for ages
Liverpool is set to undergo a period of change in the center of the pitch with four midfielders set to depart the club in one summer, leaving Jürgen Klopp much to do.
Liverpool midfielder Arthur Melo has confirmed the inevitable: that he will be departing Anfield at the end of the season having failed to make an impact since arriving on an emergency loan deal.
Having decided not to sign a midfielder last summer only to change its mind, Liverpool then brought in Arthur from Juventus on a season-long loan. It was never likely that the $40m (£32m/€37m) option to buy him permanently was going to be triggered, but having played only 13 minutes, the Brazilian’s fate was clear.
Since I arrived, [Jürgen] Klopp has treated me really well,” Arthur told Goal. “It is an honor for me to work with Jürgen. He is one of the best coaches in the world, he has always spoken well of me, he is someone incredible and the treatment has always been really good, elegant and special.
The fact of being able to train with someone like him always gives you a lot as a player and I’m sure it’s useful for what’s to come because you learn a lot from him.
Now that I’m recovered, I would obviously like to be able to play more, but I can understand that the situation now is different from what happened when I arrived, because at that time the team had some needs and now it has others.
“But I have the peace of mind that when I talk to them and they tell me that no one has any complaints with me, quite the opposite. Also all of Liverpool in general, they have treated me great and I only have good words for them and a very special affection.”
Along with Naby Keïta, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner, Arthur will represent a real clearing of the midfield decks for Liverpool in the summer, with those four players set to depart while bringing in no transfer fee to reinvest. Roberto Firmino, of course, is another that will depart at the end of his contract.
Instead, Liverpool and FSG will have to fund moves for replacements, with Alexis Mac Allister and Mason Mount among the players being considered for the roles.
“Next season I see it with good eyes,” Arthur continued. “It will be decisive in my career and I am working very well. I’m looking forward to showing this new version of Arthur.
READ NEXT
Inside rise of USMNT and Liverpool starlet tipped to copy Christian Pulisic after 90-goal season
Beyond Brad Friedel, there have not been many American players to feature for Liverpool at senior level. In fact, there are only two others on a very short list: Zak Whitbread, who made seven appearances, all in domestic cups, and Hugh Lester — an ‘outside left’ who played just two games, way back in 1912.
In more recent times, Matteo Ritaccio, born in New York, arrived at the Reds’ Academy in 2018, but turning 22 in October, it is safe to say that he isn’t on the pathway to the senior team.
Keyrol Figueroa, though, not turning 17 until August, could be in with a much better chance of eclipsing the USMNT players of the past when it comes to making it at Liverpool, even though he was born in Honduras.
“Every single player that our coaches bring in is a talent — a different talent, a different piece of the puzzle,” Figueroa explained when asked by Soccer America why he had opted to represent the USMNT. “I couldn’t be prouder. I’m just happy that I’m on their side!”
Figueroa moved to Liverpool as an U14s player around the time that his father retired, with Maynor (Figueroa senior) having ties in the UK that he returned to after finishing his career in MLS. In one season for Liverpool, Figueroa (junior) scored 90 goals, before making his U18s debut at the age of 15.
READ MORE: Trent Alexander-Arnold may have just found Liverpool answer as Jürgen Klopp delays transfer call
READ MORE: Jürgen Klopp has Jordan Henderson masterplan and two Liverpool transfer moves will unlock it
John Gall, FC Dallas coaching director, worked with him for just over a year in the U12 age group (he moved to Dallas’ youth set-up when Maynor, who had previously played left-back for Hull City and Wigan Athletic in the Premier League, signed for the club).
“Figgy always played up front,” Gall tells Liverpool.com. “The game is a little bit more in transition in the US — a little bit back and forth in terms of the game — and you’re trying to get kids at that age to control it a bit more. It took him time to get used to the style, but once he got to grips with it, there was no turning back.
“One of the things that stood out to me more than anything was his ability to strike the ball. We have a game against Houston Dynamo — a pretty big rivalry for us in Texas — and he stepped up to take a penalty kick.
“I remember thinking when he struck the ball that if the young goalkeeper had been in the way of that ball, the keeper would have been in the net himself! The technique follows his dad and Maynor’s ability to strike a ball was incredible. Little Figgy is the same.”
Figueroa has only made the step up to the U18s this season, and in fact, had not scored at that level until after he returned full of confidence from netting seven times at the U17s CONCACAF Championships at the turn of the year.
Since then, he has scored four times and assisted three inside just six U18 Premier League games, including a 13-minute hat-trick against Wolves, mainly playing through the center but also off the right.
If you enjoyed this piece, you’ll love our Liverpool.com newsletter — every weekday, we send exclusive, bonus content only to people signed up for our mailing list!
Our newsletter subscribers get a rundown Monday to Friday from one of the best Liverpool FC writers — straight to your inbox, and completely for free.
Wherever you are in the world — in the US, the UK or further afield — you don’t want to miss out.
Sign up to the Liverpool.com newsletter here — it only takes a few seconds!
“He can play both [centrally and from the right wing] and he can score goals and create moving forwards,” his U18s manager, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, tells Liverpool.com. “There are lots of things that he can do, whether he plays in the middle or slightly off one side.
“He has just got to keep playing and keep progressing. You want them to have an understanding of everything, so if a manager picks them off the left, the right or the middle, they can play their game from that area of the pitch.
“That, for me, is really important, because in an ideal world, you would have a front line that was quite fluid and they could all fill in different spaces when needed to give a back four or a back five a different challenge at different times in the game.
“It is something we try and encourage and practice in training, and hopefully in time we will get boys who can do it.”
Last year, a source close to the Figueroa family revealed to the Daily Star that Antoine Griezmann is a big fan. “Keyrol is amazed whenever Antoine gets in touch,” it was stated. “He loves it. Antoine has become something of a mentor for the kid — via WhatsApp and with words of encouragement.
“It’s brilliant for him to have one of the game’s greatest strikers in football following his progress. It’s a huge boost.”
With his father having played at the top level, there is pressure — but also an advantage in terms of knowing what it takes to reach the very top.
“I had a great relationship with [his father] Maynor and he was very supportive and really helped us do the things that we needed to do with Keyrol,” coaching director Gall explained.
Keyrol Figueroa is one to watch in Liverpool’s academy.
(Image: Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“Keyrol was the type of kid that you needed to keep pushing and he absorbed those things really well.
“When your dad plays in the Premier League and he is a Honduran international, you have some big shoes to fill — but he is the type of kid that wants to fill them. Everything about him — his mentality, his attitude — he wanted to be the best.
“He has certainly put himself in a good position. He is a great kid and you could tell all the time that football was in his DNA; he lived it and breathed it.
“I brought him back to the UK on a tour just before he made the transition to Liverpool and we played in a tournament at St George’s Park. You could tell that this is where he wanted to be and he was comfortable.
“Sometimes after a loss or a not-great performance, he would hold onto that a bit too much but just like all the kids, they wanted to win, and score, and be successful. The kid wanted it really bad and you don’t want to lose that.
“I got to know his mum, his brothers and his sister and I’ve kept in touch [with him in Liverpool]. It’s great to see him doing well.
“A couple of the U17 national team coaches used to work at FC Dallas, so we keep in touch and talk about Keyrol all the time. He is very similar to how he used to be [on the pitch] and he has a personality about him that is really infectious.”
USMNT and Liverpool starlet Keyrol Figueroa.
(Image: Photo by Christian Hofer/Getty Images)
Figueroa really impressed at the U17s CONCACAF Championship: that has seemingly been a bit of a turning point for him this season. His Liverpool form has been excellent since — the hope in Dallas, and presumably the rest of America, is that he can continue to improve and eventually perform similarly for the ever-growing USMNT.
“At the tournament, he wasn’t starting but he got his chance, scored a couple of goals and that is exactly how he was at FC Dallas — a fringe player in the beginning, but then when we brought him into the first group within the academy, he blossomed and grew,” Gall said. “If you give him an opportunity, he will take his chance.
“I’ve been in the US for a long time and people have been expecting soccer here to be further ahead than it is in terms of World Cup qualifying and results, but it is a tricky place because it is very large and there is a lot of players from a huge continent.
“Trying to find the right pieces is hard but we are getting to the point where there are certain players in certain positions — a Weston McKennie, a Christian Pulisic — who are really grabbing that position better than anyone else.
“Keyrol is the type of kid that could be the next number nine for the US. We have a kid — Jesús Ferreira — who is playing number nine for the US and it would be a great story if maybe one day Jesús, Ricardo Pepi [the 20-year-old who moved from FC Dallas to Augsburg in the German Bundesliga in January 2022] and maybe Keyrol Figueroa could play up front together for the US — all from FC Dallas.”
-
Manchester City5 months ago
Congratulations Phil Foden side chick just gave birth to a baby boy,open to hear Phil Foden speech from conference
-
Manchester City4 months ago
Good New: Erling Haaland UK side chick just delivered a baby boy today, Haaland named the child after Pep Guardiola 🙄
-
Manchester City4 months ago
Report: Manchester City attacking midfielder De Bruyne ‘desperate’ to join English football giants
-
Manchester City5 months ago
Congratulations: Erling Haaland become a father as side chick delivered baby boy earlier today by BBC..
-
Manchester City4 months ago
Footage of Ederson’s Angry Reaction to Pep Guardiola made Phil Foden to send him a warning massage,Pep was shocked when he saw what Phil wrote.
-
Manchester City3 months ago
“Everyone at Man City wants me out, even the fans want me out
-
Manchester City4 months ago
Congratulations to Phil Foden as he bought a new private jet.
-
Manchester City3 months ago
DONE DEAL:Man City has finally signed their long time target,€150M rated