Alonso targets four world-class signings to kickstart Liverpool revolution with five big names sold – report | OneFootball

Liverpool managerial target Xabi Alonso has outlined bold plans to sign four world-class stars this summer if he gets the nod to replace Arne Slot as manager, while five big-name Reds stars will be told to pack their bags, according to ambitious reports in Spain.

The Reds’ title defence has not gone to plan and they currently sit 14 points adrift of table-topping Arsenal, putting Slot’s job in serious jeopardy. After a summer spree that saw Liverpool splashing out £440m (€505m, $600m) on strengthening their squad, the fact that they face a battle to even qualify for the top four this season has seen enormous pressure heaped on the Dutchman’s shoulders.

Growing reports over the last few days have suggested FSG has seen enough, and our correspondent Fraser Fletcher confirmed on Monday that Liverpool had held talks with club icon, Xabi Alonso, who recently left his role as Real Madrid manager.

With Slot’s position increasingly perilous, and with Alonso now seemingly on course to take over at the season’s end, speculation has begun to surface over what a Liverpool side under the Spanish tactician will look like.

And according to ambitious reports from Spanish outlet Fichajes, Alonso has made it clear he wants to offload five big-name Liverpool stars to free up funds and squad spaces for the most ambitious of summer overhauls and with four world-class targets having also been identified.

Per the report, Alonso plans to show Ibrahima Konate and, surprisingly, Ryan Gravenberch the door – the former of course looking likely to leave as a free agent this summer.

It’s claimed Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo will also be moved on, while ‘the most painful departure of all’ will be that of Mohamed Salah, who the club will decide to cash in on with a year left on his deal.

Per the report, it’s claimed Alonso wants to ‘free up funds’ to bring in four world-class stars to build his side around and with Liverpool ready to go all out to sign Micky van de Ven, Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola and Adam Wharton – deals that could set the club back a combined £380m (€440m, $520m).

What next for Arne Slot? Three sources have their say…

As for Slot, it seems the Dutchman is on borrowed time now at Anfield and with Jamie Carragher having named exactly why and when he thinks the axe will fall on his Anfield reign.

Backing up what Fletcher has told us about Alonso, Sky Sports reporter Alan Irwin insists that sources close to the 44-year-old have indicated that the former Liverpool midfielder would be “more than happy with a return to the club.”

Irwin said: “It does seem strange that a Liverpool manager who won the league for them so convincingly is under pressure, but this club has very high standards indeed, and the Liverpool hierarchy may well be considering their options.

“Xabi Alonso’s name is constantly mentioned in these parts, and sources close to him indicate he would be more than happy with a return to the club.”

Liverpool FC expert and journalist David Lynch, however, is adamant that Slot will not be axed mid-season, with the big managerial change likely at the season’s end in an effort to minimise disruption through the current campaign.

“They clearly, clearly want to get to the end of the season with Slot if they can. They don’t want to make a mid-season managerial change because who do you get as the interim? It would clearly be better to make the managerial change in the summer.

“I think his future’s already set, to be honest. It’s been so pronounced, the decline, for such a long time. It is only a case of getting to the summer, albeit if he starts to lose six, seven on the bounce again, he will get bulleted because they’ll feel forced to go for an interim. They don’t want to change; they really would prefer not to.

“Then it’s kind of go for a manager, then in the summer. People are talking about ‘go and get Xabi Alonso’, but he’s not gonna want to walk into a job now, so it’d have to be an interim, and I don’t think there’s a great deal out there.”

Meanwhile, the Reds are reportedly battling Bayern Munich for the signature of a top Feyenoord defensive talent.

Elsewhere, while much has been made about Harvey Elliott’s lack of action for Aston Villa, it emerged on Monday that the Reds have terminated another winger’s loan deal, though the player in question looks unlikely to play for Slot again any time soon.

And finally, sources have revealed how Andy Robertson’s move to Tottenham Hotspur might not be officially dead yet, with .