Where are Liverpool in the transfer food chain? The futures of Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister may answer that question…
THE FOOD chain.
It’s constantly worth taking stock of your place within it for a club of Liverpool’s stature.
We had years of being what I’d label second tier. Ranked below the attractiveness and lure of La Liga’s big two. Ranked below Manchester City and even Chelsea due to their financial clout.
Jürgen Klopp’s era and the evisceration of Spanish football has propelled the Reds to the higher echelons of transfer destinations. This arguably hit its peak in the summer of 2025.
Why, then, does this continued sense of inferiority pervade when it comes to losing its best players?
Over the past few weeks, the senses have been heightened around the futures of Curtis Jones, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai. The impending Ibrahima Konate contract expiry leaves a pensive tone in the air.
Lurking constantly is Real Madrid. The one constant, immovable object in any food chain. Madrid remain the jungle’s top carnivore, even with the pivot away from record-breaking transfer fees to impending free agents.
Liverpool have already been on the receiving end of Madrid’s new approach with the snaring of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
One thing we learnt with Trent was that Madrid are working on these targets sometimes years in advance.
They’ll speak with agents and representatives and make it clear that if the player doesn’t commit to a new deal, they’ll be waiting on the other side of their contract expiration.
But why is Liverpool seemingly more at risk of being picked off by Los Blancos?
The contracts of players such as Phil Foden and Rodri are up in 2027, yet there seems to be zero noise and zero worry about their futures.
Szoboszlai’s future was brought into the spotlight because of his national manager’s comments about his desire to join Madrid.
At 25, the Hungary captain’s reputation has soared this season. He has adapted to the hardest league in football and thrives in a number of positions.
If Szoboszlai, Mac Allister or even Florian Wirtz someday harbour desires to relocate to the Spanish capital, how much of this was communicated during their transfer negotiations with Liverpool?
It’s possible that we’ve positioned ourselves as the stepping-stone towards fulfilling dreams at Madrid in these situations.
This would be hard to stomach if so. But if Liverpool gets five years of a prime talent then should we complain?
A counter to this is why we’d require such a strategy. Chelsea can tie down big players on ten year deals without pushback. Other clubs’ biggest stars seem to commit to new deals well in advance without any fuss.
Then there’s money. The Reds remain the third highest wage payers in the Premier League, according to a recent piece by GiveMeSport.
A large chunk of that is being swallowed up by Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
The answer for many is to simply pay even more to lessen such headaches.
This would theoretically tie down key assets and sway certain transfer targets. Liverpool’s current squad could be bolstered by Luis Diaz and Marc Guehi if they took this approach.
They don’t. And won’t.
We were the destination club for Alexander Isak and that felt significant, but this felt like an anomaly.
You can’t help but feel the only certain way to contextualise this is by winning. If they aren’t the destination club for trophies and Champions League football, then Liverpool lose a lot of their gravitational pull and could find themselves being picked off by clubs other than Madrid.
It’s hard to place where we are in the transfer food chain.
Three years ago, Liverpool rebuilt a midfield based on youth and market value.
Most of those assets have matured nicely. What happens next with them might just answer this question.
