Liverpool Euro rivals round-up: PSG is hatching a plan to at least avoid losing Kylian Mbappé for nothing. Inter is eyeing a familiar heir for Alexis Sánchez.
Inter could turn to an old Liverpool foe to replace Alexis Sánchez. (Image: Photo by Emilio Andreoli – Inter/Inter via Getty Images)
Liverpool will have to contend with worries about what happens next regarding Mohamed Salah until the day he leaves Anfield. But perhaps there shouldn’t be too much concern — the club could always just sign him back again a year later on a free transfer, at least if Alexis Sánchez is anything to go by.
The former Arsenal and Manchester United man spent three years with Inter, including a one-year loan spell in his final season on the books at Old Trafford. Sánchez left for Marseille on a free transfer last summer, but has since returned to the San Siro.
However, this season is set to be his swansong, and Inter really means it this time. Having handed him a one-year deal, there is already a transfer market focus on how to replace Sánchez, and a Liverpool ‘nemesis’ is on the list.
Meanwhile, a free transfer is the scenario PSG is desperately trying to avoid, as Kylian Mbappé gets ever closer to the end of his deal. That led The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards to speculate recently on BBC’s Football Gossip Daily that Liverpool or Manchester City could even try and get involved in January.
But PSG has another plan up its sleeve, and is preparing a ‘final offer’ to Mbappé. Here is the Liverpool.com take on some of the biggest stories around European football today.
PSG prepares ‘final’ Kylian Mbappé offer
It is widely expected that Mbappé will agree a deal with Real Madrid in January, allowing him to move for nothing in the summer. But PSG continues to fight against that reality, understandably not keen on losing the second-most-expensive player of all time for nothing (and with no Champions League trophy to show for his time at the club).
Now, according to Sport, the French giant is ready to table a ‘final offer’. Any new deal would be made with his desire to move on in mind — it would only run until 2025, and may even feature a release clause well below the striker’s market value.
Kelechi Iheanacho could replace Alexis Sánchez
With no return for Romelu Lukaku this year, Inter has turned to a couple of Premier League veterans. Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martínez are the main men, but they are backed up by Marko Arnautović and the returning Sánchez.
Technically, Arnautović is returning too, having spent a season on loan at Inter 13 years ago. This latest arrangement is another loan, while Sánchez was only given a one-year contract upon his comeback, so the Italians are on the lookout for more attacking firepower.
According to FC Inter News, the availability of Kelechi Iheanacho on a free transfer next summer has been ‘registered’. There is an ‘urgent’ need for ‘fresh forces’ in light of Sánchez’s short-term deal, and the 27-year-old could be the answer, although Mehdi Taremi is also a long-term target.