Liverpool handed major boost as Premier League rivals pull out of transfer chase | OneFootball

Liverpool's transfer regime over the last couple of seasons has been made more than clear.

The Anfield outfit are looking to sign Premier League ready youngsters so that their future is stable.

Players such as Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez and Hugo Ekitike are all perfect examples of this with the system finally seeming to work itself out.

There have been a couple of teething problems here and there but, now that we're deep into the 2026-27 season, it's clear that the Reds' plan will work out.

However, the only caveat to this regime is that most other clubs across the world will want to sign Liverpool's players which is exactly what seems to be happening now.

Chelsea forced to pull out of transfer chase for Liverpool wonderkid Joshua Abe

Joshua Abe has been the name on the tip of most Liverpool fans' tongues for the last few months.

The 15-year-old has been the star player for Liverpool's Under-18's this season with the attacker even being included in a couple of first-team training sessions.

However, he's now been ruled out for the rest of the campaign due to an injury he sustained.

This injury hasn't stopped clubs from registering an interest in the youngster with Chelsea among the top contenders for his transfer.

But, as per a fresh update from the Daily Mail, it doesn't seem like Arne Slot and Richard Hughes will have to worry about the Blue's prising Abe away from Anfield any time soon.

"With my Liverpool cap on, my first thought when I saw the news about Chelsea being handed an academy transfer ban this week was about Reds prospect Joshua Abe," they wrote.

"As we have reported extensively in this column over the last year, the 15-year-old is a target of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City.

"He also was shown round Real Madrid's Bernabeu and has signed up with the PLG Agency of Tyler Alexander-Arnold, the brother of Trent.

"Chelsea are currently out of that race because of their ban, however, which is a big help for Liverpool’s case to keep him, though others still loom large.

Liverpool's future looks bright

The fact that one less club is in the transfer chase for Abe is a massive boost for Liverpool.

Slot will be buzzing that one of the Reds' brightest prospect is becoming increasingly likely to stay, especially since Salah is set to leave next season.

Others such as Cody Gakpo could also end up on the chopping block due to the poor form he's shown this season.

The likes of Abe and Rio Ngumoha are almost certainly being lined up to be Liverpool's next era of their attack with the latter of the two even getting some regular game time under Slot over the last few weeks.

Indeed, City, Arsenal and Real Madrid are continuing to look at Abe from a distance so he could still end up exiting but, with Chelsea now out of the equation, there's one less team for them to worry about.

There are many ways that this situation could end up panning out but, at the moment, it feels like Liverpool will be able to keep the 15-year-old around for now at least.