Andoni Iraola begs midfielder to stay
Liverpool sold Curtis Jones to Inter Milan.
The homegrown midfielder was going to be out of contract in 2027 with Richard Hughes taking the decision to cash in for £30m.
That is decent money for a player with only one year left on his deal but there’s no doubt that it leaves the club short on midfield options.
It appears as though money is going to be spent on the attack instead with £123m Bradley Barcola joining this weekend and deals planned for more wide forwards.
Fans want a new No6
Fans could be forgiven for thinking that the club could do with an extra midfielder in there for the season ahead under Andoni Iraola.
Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister will be the first-choice trio but all of them have their own drawbacks in midfield.
Beyond those and the options are scarce. Trey Nyoni is inexperienced - even if he is highly rated - while Wataru Endo is hardly ever trusted to start.
Andoni Iraola pleads with James McConnell to stay
It’s now emerged that Iraola has asked one midfielder to stick around for the 2026/27 campaign instead of heading out on loan.
Because Lewis Steele in the Daily Mail is reporting that the plug has been pulled on a potential loan for James McConnell.
“Another back-up option is academy graduate James McConnell,” the report reads.
“He spent the first half of last season at Ajax and the second half on the treatment table.
“But he is fit now and has been asked to stick around.
“He had agreed a loan move to Preston North End but that has been put on the back-burner for now at least.”
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James McConnell wanted by Preston
McConnell signed a new contract extension before heading off to Ajax under John Heitinga. That spell was cut short due to injury and Heitinga’s sacking didn’t help his chances either.
Now fully recovered the 21-year-old has taken the chance to impress Iraola in the early stages of his reign.
No one is claiming that the former Sunderland youth is going to be first-choice at No6 but it is instructive to learn that he does indeed figure in the plan this term.
Liverpool rate McConnell highly and he is already an EFL Cup winner having starred in the 2024 final under Jurgen Klopp.
Now is the time to kick on and convince Iraola and Hughes that no big-money No6 signings will be needed in the longer term either.
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