Richard Hughes wants to sign £25m star for Liverpool now | OneFootball

Richard Hughes has his work cut out for him once again at Liverpool.

The Reds' sporting director probably thought that his job would be fairly simple this season after spending £450 million last summer but realistically, all the new players who have come in have just made things harder.

Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz performed well below expectations and, even though they spent tonnes of money, they still had nowhere near enough depth in certain areas of their squad.

That's why players such as Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai were forced into being used as right-backs on multiple occasions.

After finishing fifth in the Premier League, it finally seems like the Reds have learnt their lesson and are now looking to add more squad players to their ranks with the club already making their first signing.

And now, another player has reportedly been added to the Reds' shortlist.

Andreas Schjelderup is on Liverpool's radar

Liverpool's attack is in dire need of fresh faces.

With Mohamed Salah leaving and Hugo Ekitike out injured until who knows when, Liverpool need to make some new additions to their ranks.

As mentioned, Munoz is the first of these to occur but, since Federico Chiesa could also be on his way out, the Reds' squad depth is looking likely to be tested once again.

This is probably one of the main reasons why so many new names are being brought up as potential targets for Liverpool with Tutto Mercato Web throwing Andreas Schjelderup into the conversation.

"He's worth about double that, with Manuel Rui Costa valuing him at around €30 million," they wrote.

"A right-footed left winger capable of alternating goals and assists with a good frequency, he's being monitored by much of Europe.

"In England, for example, Liverpool and Tottenham are following him, in Spain Atlético Madrid is interested, while in Italy, AC Milan and Como are evaluating him.

"The list of interested clubs is set to grow, given his technical ability, especially considering his ID card, which states he turned 22 about three weeks ago."

Andreas Schjelderup would be an interesting signing for Liverpool

Ever since Jurgen Klopp was in charge of Liverpool, the club have thrived by using inverted wingers.

The era with Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Salah was the best way to prove their system worked as it meant that both of the Reds' wingers could put their clinical finishing to use.

And, even though Firmino chipped in with the odd goal here and there, him being a facilitator worked really well.

So, the fact that Hughes and Iraola are looking at brining another right-footed left-winger in just as Cody Gakpo is being linked with an exit makes a lot of sense.

The Benfica attacker is only 22 years old and, although his natural position is on the left, he's also been used as a number 10, a striker and a right-winger.

Spending around £25 million on the Norway international feels like a decent bit of business at the moment, especially since he contributed to 17 goals across all competitions during the 2025-26 campaign.

Of course, because there are many other clubs involved in the transfer race, a deal probably won't be that straight forward.

However, if Gakpo goes, Liverpool would have the perfect opportunity to interchange Schjelderup and Rio Ngumoha which would keep both players happy and help them progress towards reaching their full potential.