Two Liverpool defenders now appear destined for the exit door this summer.
It has emerged that Rhys Williams and Billy Koumetio ‘are expected to leave’ amid their ongoing absence from Arne Slot’s senior training sessions during pre-season.
“Centre-backs Rhys Williams and Billy Koumetio are expected to leave. The duo have found themselves training with the under-21s rather than Slot’s senior squad during pre-season,” James Pearce wrote for The Athletic.
“Williams, 23, is attracting interest from Turkey as well as several League One clubs, while there is interest in Koumetio from Scotland and France.”
The former of the pair will be remembered by Reds fans for his key involvement in the injury-hit 2020/21 campaign.
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The Englishman, whose current terms expire in the summer of 2026, played 19 times in the heart of defence whilst the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez were out injured.
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It seems securing the future of key Liverpool stars may very well take priority over bolstering the squad this summer.
To be clear, that doesn’t necessarily mean Arne Slot won’t welcome any new faces at the club.
However, with the trio of expiring contracts being Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk – a core section of our 2019/20 title-winning squad – you can understand why Richard Hughes has made this a priority.
It’s our expectation here at Empire of the Kop that our scouse vice skipper will be open to extending terms at Anfield.
We certainly hope he won’t hand fans a nail-biting wait until the halfway mark in the season before making his decision.
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