Liverpool transfer news: Massive deal now imminent as star misses training

One Liverpool deal is now imminent as star is absent from training.

Liverpool’s transfer window has fallen well short of expectations so far. There are still some glaring weaknesses in the squad that need addressing before the new season gets underway, yet the club has struggled to make any meaningful progress in the market.

Even Andoni Iraola acknowledged as much during his first press conference. Liverpool’s new head coach admitted that the squad still needed strengthening and made it clear that work was taking place behind the scenes to bring in reinforcements. At the time, those comments offered some reassurance. There was an acceptance that more needed to be done and, importantly, a suggestion that Liverpool were working towards fixing it.

Since then, however, there has been very little to suggest that the situation has changed.

Victor Munoz remains the only major addition, while much of the focus surrounding Liverpool’s transfer activity has centred on deals falling through, targets choosing other clubs and growing uncertainty over what comes next.

The biggest disappointment has undoubtedly been the pursuit of Yan Diomande. Liverpool made a serious attempt to sign the highly-rated winger and viewed him as one of their preferred options to inject more pace, directness and unpredictability into the attack.

Instead, Diomande turned Liverpool down in favour of Paris Saint-Germain before ultimately completing a move to Real Madrid.

That is a significant blow because Liverpool were already facing a major problem in attack. With Mohamed Salah gone, the need for another genuine difference-maker in the final third was obvious. Diomande appeared to fit the profile, offering the kind of explosive one-on-one ability that has been missing from the squad.

Losing the target is one thing. Failing to have an obvious alternative ready to go is another.

And that is where the frustration is beginning to grow. Liverpool knew what this squad needed before the window opened, yet with the new season approaching, several of those problems remain unresolved.

There is still time for that to change. But at this stage, Liverpool need more than promises of work being done behind the scenes. They need to start seeing the results of it in the transfer market.

Ironically, one of the best players of the summer for Liverpool has been someone who is ineligible to actually represent the Reds.

There's no denying the star of Andoni Iraola's first pre-season with Liverpool has been Ifeanyi Ndukwe.

The 18-year-old has been phenomenal while stepping into the vacant right sided centre-back role and has looked very comfortable playing alongside Luke Chambers and Virgil van Dijk.

The ease with which he settled at such a young age and how he's been able to dominate his opponents bodes really well for his future.

Liverpool though cannot play him next season as he doesn't qualify for a work-permit. There would have been a way to grant him an ESC spot, which is an exemption. Premier League clubs are given up to four slots every season. However, Liverpool have been given just one ESC slot for the upcoming season, and that was awarded to Mor Talla Ndiaye.

Ndukwe now has to go out on loan and it looks like a move could be imminent. He was nowhere to be seen in LFCTV's training footages and he did not participate in Wednesday's training session.

So far nothing has been reported about him picking up an injury, so the only thing that could prevent him from taking part is that a deal is now imminent for him to go elsewhere.