Why This One Might Drift Away

The word doing the rounds is that the Semenyo move to Liverpool is drifting, unless there’s a proper late twist. And to be fair, that’s not always down to a lad suddenly changing his mind. A transfer can fall apart because the selling is a bit messy, or the timing’s just wrong, or because another club can simply throw a bigger base salary at it.

The reasons being put forward are fairly straightforward: higher wages elsewhere, doubts about the direction of the project, and questions around coaching. Whether you buy every detail or not, that mix makes sense as a general explanation for why a player might hesitate. It’s not just about fancy pictures of Anfield and a few nice words. Players and agents want certainty, and they want to feel like everyone at the club is singing off the same hymn sheet.

Wages matter, but so does certainty

Liverpool have never really been the club that wins every race by throwing the biggest basic wage around. We can all name the sort of sides who can do that without blinking. So if the key issue is a significantly higher base salary, you can see why this becomes a tough one to force through.

But the other bits are the ones that sting a bit: “project direction” and “coaching” as concerns. If that’s genuinely the read from the player’s side, it suggests the pitch hasn’t been clean enough. Even if the club’s plan is sound, perception matters. If it looks like hesitation, agents can smell it a mile off.

Behind-the-scenes changes and a quieter window

The suggestion here is that changes behind the scenes and within the coaching setup are coming, and that it’ll lead to more diligence ahead of January. That tracks with how big clubs tend to operate when they’re in any kind of transition: fewer punts, more second-checking, and a bit less chaos for chaos’ sake.

It also lines up with Jamie Carragher’s usual line about expecting the unexpected, except the “unexpected” might be that we don’t do loads. A steadier window. A couple of targeted moves, if any. No mad scramble just to keep the timeline busy.

Elliott as an option, and the Guehi mention

There’s a nod in the post to Elliott returning and becoming an option again, which is worth flagging because internal solutions are often what Liverpool lean on when the market isn’t perfect. It’s not glamorous, but it can be effective if the squad stays healthy and the manager trusts the rotation.

There’s also mention of continuing to push for Guehi. If that’s the direction, it sounds like the club would rather be patient and decisive than frantic. Truth is, that’s usually when Liverpool are at their best in the market anyway.

Written by Ned Flanders: 6 January 2026