Konate exit, Champions League glory – Three Liverpool predictions for 2025-26 season
Liverpool have plenty of encouragement ahead of the 2025-26 season.
The Anfield outfit head into the campaign as defending Premier League champions after Arne Slot took English football by storm in his first season.
Fenway Sports Group have backed their manager, with the signings of Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and Hugo Ekitike, and are trying to get a deal for Newcastle star Alexander Isak over the line.
Here, Liverpool News makes three predictions for the upcoming campaign.
Ngumoha to become next Liverpool star
Rio Ngumoha is the latest wonderkid to come off the pipeline on Merseyside.
The 16-year-old was initially signed from Chelsea, which caused a lot of tension between the two clubs, with academy scouts being banned for a while.
The youngster has been given a chance to impress by Slot in pre-season and he has grasped it with both hands, notching a stunning strike in the 3-1 win over Yokohama Marinos.
The sky is the limit for Ngumoha if he develops the right way, and the Dutchman could utilise him as back-up for Cody Gakpo on the left flank.
The departure of Luis Diaz and the seeming reluctance to target a new left winger suggests that they feel the former Stamford Bridge prospect is ready to see first-team action.
Liverpool win the Champions League
Slot’s side dominated the top-flight on their way to a historic 20th title, but the Champions League eluded them on this occasion.
The Reds destroyed the new league phase format, finishing top of the pile, but that did not hand them a better draw for the knockout stages.
- Liverpool were top by two points ahead of Barcelona, Arsenal and Inter Milan, after winning seven matches and losing one
They faced Paris Saint-Germain, and although Harvey Elliott had given them the lead in the Parc Des Princes, the Parisians turned it around at Anfield.
Ousmane Dembele scored the only goal of the contest, and Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones missed in the shootout to send Luis Enrique’s side through.
Many observers thought that the Reds were one of the only sides to match up well with the magnificent Ligue 1 side that went on to win the tournament.
The L4 outfit have strengthened massively in the summer and if they sign Isak too, that would make them favourites for this year’s competition.
Konate departs Anfield at the end of his contract
Ibrahima Konate could be set to leave Liverpool at the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
The French defender is out of contract next summer, and there has been no progress over a new deal that would keep him at Anfield.
The two parties are believed to be far apart when it comes to the salary that the 26-year-old is demanding to stay on Merseyside and the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid are monitoring the situation.
- Konate reportedly wants a huge wage hike to around the £200,000-per-week mark
It is understandable that Richard Hughes is not willing to pay top dollar to the former RB Leipzig man, due to the injury issues that have plagued him in his time with the Reds.
He appeared to have shaken them last season, featuring 31 times in the league title-winning campaign, but they could arise again at any point.
Konate needs another season without many fitness issues, but that may be too late, and his wage demands may still cause an issue.
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