Slot told to raid Newcastle to replace £40m ‘trier’ who’s ‘not at the level’ for Liverpool | OneFootball

Danny Murphy has urged Liverpool to sign “shining light” Lewis Hall after an outstanding season for Newcastle as he’s not convinced by two Reds summer signings.

The 21-year-old joined the Magpies on loan from Chelsea in the summer of 2023 before making his move permanent for £28m a year later.

His performances this term have caught the eye, not least that of Manchester United director of football Jason Wilcox, who’s said to be a ‘big admirer’ of the full-back.

TEAMtalk can confirm Man Utd’s interest in a 2026 summer deal for Hall.

Our transfer insider, Graeme Bailey, reported on March 24 that, along with Arsenal and Liverpool, Man Utd are also ‘showing interest’ in Hall.

Sources have told us that Man Utd have been impressed by the ‘progress’ that the England international left-back has made at Newcastle under manager Eddie Howe.

However, we understand that Newcastle have no plans whatsoever to sell Hall in the summer transfer window.

Bailey reported: “Newcastle’s stance is clear: Hall is central to their long-term project, and any approach this summer is set to be firmly rebuffed.

“Hall is also on a long-term contract until 2029, so Newcastle are in a very strong position.

“The player himself appears completely happy with life on Tyneside.”

But Murphy believes his former side Liverpool should also be chasing Hall as Andy Robertson is bringing his glittering Reds career to an end this summer

“To be honest, depending on what happens with the Newcastle situation, I’m a huge fan of Lewis Hall,” Murphy told Betarades. “I think he’s a wonderful player, a brilliant footballer, and when it comes to one-on-one defending, he’s very, very good.

“It’s probably unlikely you’re going to get him out because it it looks like [Sandro] Tonali might go and [Anthony] Gordon might go, but if Newcastle do have to sell and you can pinch him, even if you have to pay a bit more for him, he’s still a young man, he’s got the Premier League experience, and I think he’s been one of Newcastle’s shining lights this season.

“There’s a lot of great left-backs out there not worth mentioning because I don’t think you’d tear them away from PSG Bayern Munich, and they’re at some of the biggest clubs in the world, and you’d like to be able to grab them and take them, but I’m not sure.

Murphy says Liverpool should be targeting a new first-choice left-back as he’s not convinced £40m summer signing Milos Kerkez is “at the level” required.

“Kerkez is a trier and he’s improved, is he at the level Liverpool need to win league titles and Champions League? My feeling is that he’s not,” he said.

“He’s probably an understudy; he’s probably a backup. Now, if you’ve got 60 games in a season and you’re competing in all competitions, you can’t just have one. But he’s not better than Andy Robertson.”

Lower down the priorities list at Anfield

Murphy’s also not been sold on Jeremie Frimpong and while he’s “not disregarding Conor Bradley” in that position, the former midfielder believes Liverpool could also do with a new right-back this summer to supplement Arne Slot’s options on that flank.

“I think Liverpool need a really established quality right-back because Frimpong looks more like a wing-back or a winger to me,” he added. “He hasn’t really looked that comfortable playing at right-back.

“That can change, I’ve seen it in the past where players after their first season settle and get more comfortable in their surroundings.

“I’m not disregarding Conor Bradley because I think when he’s fit, he’s a super player, but unfortunately at the moment, you can’t rely on him cause he can’t stay fit for a period of time.

“I think they’ll probably give Frimpong another year to establish himself alongside Conor Bradley because they can’t replace everybody. I think the left side will be more important because of Robbo leaving.

“I think they need to bring someone in who can really compete and play and not be an understudy to Kerkez. I think they need to go and get somebody who’s established and of real quality that can come into the team, push Kerkez, and probably overtake him, if I’m being honest. The Kerkez signing hasn’t really worked.”