“I’ve been told…” – Transfer insider hints Liverpool may have spoken to Klopp about 22y/o target | OneFootball

Liverpool may have consulted with Jurgen Klopp about one prospective summer signing, according to one transfer insider.

The legendary German bid an emotional farewell to Anfield this time last year and enjoyed a well-earned break before taking on the role of Head of Global Soccer for Red Bull at the start of 2025.

RB Leipzig are one of the clubs in the company’s footballing portfolio, and several players have gone from there to Merseyside in recent years while the 57-year-old was in the Reds’ dugout (Naby Keita, Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai).

Liverpool interested in Xavi Simons

Transfer insider Graeme Bailey has named Xavi Simons as the latest potential mover from the Red Bull Arena to Anfield and didn’t rule out the possibility that Liverpool chiefs may have spoken to Klopp about the Netherlands international.

The journalist told TBR Football: “In the background Liverpool did do a lot of checks on [Jeremie] Frimpong over the last few months, and interestingly they’ve done similar investigations on Xavi Simons.

“I keep coming back to Simons; they like him an awful lot and they’ve done the work on him, obviously speaking to Ryan Gravenberch. I’ve been told not to rule out the prospect that Liverpool’s hierarchy will have spoken to Jurgen Klopp about Simons, which I think is interesting.”

(Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

Leipzig’s final-day failure could play into Liverpool’s hands

As we exclusively reported on Empire of the Kop earlier this month, Liverpool are understood to be preparing an offer in the region of £51m for Simons; and now that a move for Frimpong has been effectively confirmed, that could free up Richard Hughes to truly push for the RB Leipzig attacker.

The 22-year-old could be more readily available this summer after Zsolt Lőw’s side missed out on European qualification for next season following their Bundesliga final-day defeat to Stuttgart, and the incentive of Champions League football (and a genuine chance of competing for the trophy) would surely appeal to the Dutch forward.

With Frimpong set to be the fourth Netherlands international in Arne Slot’s squad, and given Klopp’s Red Bull connections, Anfield chiefs won’t be stuck for ideal candidates from whom to seek references on Simons, who ended the season with 11 goals and eight assists from 33 appearances.

The Dutchman probably wouldn’t be a regular starter at Liverpool given the intense competition for places in our attack, but he could be a more than useful squad option for what’ll be yet another hectic four-tournament campaign in 2025/26.

Could LFC raid Leipzig for a prized asset once again this summer, particularly given our former manager’s present role? Don’t rule it out!