Richard Hughes has made an all-time Liverpool transfer fumble with midfielder deal

This season Arne Slot has been struggling for midfield options.

The likes of Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister have been short of their 2024/25 Premier League title-winning form. There have been occasional injury issues for the Reds’ first-choice quartet while backup option Wataru Endo is a long-term casualty.

Additionally the likes of Endo, Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai have been pressed into action at right back. It all adds up to the sense that Arne Slot could have done with at least one more high-performing midfielder this term.

And unfortunately for the Liverpool head coach - and sporting director Richard Hughes - they may have let the perfect candidate walk out the door for a bargain fee last summer.

Liverpool will regret Morton deal

Tyler Morton, 23, is a homegrown Liverpool No6 - who impressed across a couple of Championship loan spells at Blackburn and Hull. When he returned to work under Slot in the summer of 2024 it was expected he would take on more first-team duties.

But the England under-21 European Championship winner was frozen out by the Dutchman. And - last summer - the decision was taken to sell him to Lyon for only £9m give or take.

Since then the Wallasey-born midfielder has developed into one of Ligue 1’s top performers - leading to links with clubs like Chelsea and Juventus.

Any potential transfer regret that the decision-makers at Anfield might have been feeling has now been rammed home.

'Unbelievable' Morton belongs at one of the world's top clubs

Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott - a good friend and England U21 teammate - has disclosed his belief that Morton is capable of playing for one of the best clubs in the world.

“I think it was a great decision for him (to move) — he is smashing it at the minute,” the midfielder said in an interview with The Athletic.

“He’s an unbelievable player. I think Liverpool fans saw that years ago when he was bossing it at the San Siro. He didn’t really get his opportunity last year. Obviously, it was tough in a team that was doing so well going for the league.

“In his head, I think it was time to move on and play first-team football. He was playing a lot of 21s football as well, but a player of his standard needs to be playing week in, week out, for one of the top teams in the world. I speak to him quite a lot, he is an unbelievable guy. I’m so, so happy that he’s doing so well.”

Morton has flourished since leaving Anfield - much to the chagrin of Liverpool supporters. Reds love to see their own homegrown prospects feature in the first team and Morton could certainly have helped out this term and beyond.

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