Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy feels the Reds will try to get rid of some of their underused squad players this summer should they fail to secure UEFA Champions League football.
Liverpool are currently eight points behind Chelsea, who occupy the final position in the top four, and it’s looking increasingly likely that they will be without Champions League football next season.
Should they miss out on the premier European competition, they are likely to incur losses in the region of around £40 million, as per The Athletic.
Murphy feels that in order to offset the losses, Liverpool might sell the quartet of Takumi Minamino, Xherdan Shaqiri, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Divock Origi.
“Squad players such as Takumi Minamino, Shaqiri, Divock Origi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain may have to be sacrificed to free up funds. So be it,” he wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
"Liverpool badly need a couple of players to make the team better, not six rarely-used squad members.”
Liverpool will need funds for new signings
Danny Murphy is perhaps right in his assessment that Liverpool will have to sell some of the squad players to make funds. Only time will tell whether or not he is right about the players he has mentioned.
Liverpool have struggled both defensively and offensively this season. While their defensive problems are due to injuries to key personnel at the back, their attacking form is perhaps due to exhaustion.
The likes of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah haven’t been at their usual best as a trio and the need to add more freshness to the attack is imperative.
Diogo Jota was signed last summer and his early form was exceptional before an injury derailed all the momentum he had built.
Of the players Murphy has mentioned, Origi and Oxlade-Chamberlain will likely be sold as the duo have failed to make any sort of an impact in the last year or so.
Both have had some promising moments in a Liverpool shirt, but for the Reds to get back to their best, they will need consistency from even their squad players.