It's happening: Liverpool drop massive clue to next deal after Ronald Araujo

Liverpool have dropped a massive clue as to who their next signing is. It comes after Ronald Araujo agreed to join the club.

Ronald Araujo is about to join Liverpool. Fabrizio Romano claims the Uruguayan defender is having a medical at Anfield later today and that will be quickly followed by confirmation of the deal.

It's a surprise one, certainly. There haven't been proper links to Araujo for years, even if it's clear that Liverpool have had him on their radar for some time now.

But one notable outcome of this is that Liverpool have filled their final non-homegrown player slot for their Premier League squad. Essentially, they cannot register any more players who weren't trained in England or Wales.

We know the club want to sign Bradley Barcola, though that would surely mean Cody Gakpo leaves. One in, one out, then.

Liverpool are yet to address their lack of players on the right, however. Mohamed Salah was the only out-and-out right-winger in the squad last season and he's now gone, without anyone replacing him.

This Araujo deal severely limits who they could sign to do that job. It would essentially have to be a homegrown player, though there have been zero links to any since Jarrod Bowen re-signed with West Ham United.

So we believe Liverpool have dropped a hint here as to who the signing will be. Not a homegrown player, but a loop-hole player.

The Reds have been heavily linked with Ibrahim Mbaye this week as the Senegal star prepares to leave Paris Saint-Germain. Mbaye, who developed in France, could be the Salah successor and avoid taking up a non-homegrown spot.

That's because Mbaye is still only 18 and wouldn't need to be registered. In fact, he'd eventually qualify as homegrown if he stuck around at Liverpool for three years.

It's a brilliant workaround that the Reds used for Giovanni Leoni a year ago. It's also the only way this Araujo signing makes any sense as it severely limits Liverpool in the transfer market.

Unless, of course, Mbaye is on his way.