Liverpool have the chance to bring a former player back to Anfield this summer, with sources close to the star refusing to rule out that possibility.
Liverpool braced for FA Cup quarter-final against Man City
Before anything else, there is Saturday.
Liverpool’s season has been a disappointment relative to the expectation set by last season and last summer’s mammoth spending, but two competitions still offer the chance to reshape the narrative before it closes.
The FA Cup and the Champions League represent what Arne Slot‘s side have left to play for — and the first of those ambitions will be tested immediately, in the form of an FA Cup quarter-final trip to the Etihad Stadium.
The backdrop is one of competing narratives.
City arrive as holders of the Carabao Cup, a competition they clinched in style with a 2-0 victory over Arsenal at Wembley Stadium just before the international break — a brace from the 21-year-old Nico O’Reilly settling it convincingly.
They are aiming to reach the FA Cup semi-finals for an eighth successive season, with Pep Guardiola having lost just once in nine campaigns at this stage.
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The Reds are one of a few very interested Premier League sides.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have lost 10 Premier League matches this season — their worst return since 2015/16 — and come to Manchester knowing that a defeat here would leave the FA Cup trophy out of reach and the Champions League quarter-final against PSG as their only remaining avenue to silverware.
Mohamed Salah, who confirmed on March 24 that he will leave Anfield at the end of the campaign after nine years, is expected to feature for what will be his final meeting with City as a Liverpool player.
While that battle for a Wembley place commands due attention, it is the transfer story beginning to build around the club’s summer rebuild that offers a different kind of intrigue — and at its heart sits a player with genuine Anfield roots.
Sources close to Harry Wilson tease potential Liverpoil return
Indeed, TEAMtalk’s Graeme Bailey reports that ‘sources close’ to Harry Wilson have indicated Liverpool have not been completely ruled out bringing the Welshman back to the club where he started his career.
Wilson, who left Liverpool permanently in 2021, has produced one of the most consistent individual campaigns in the Premier League this season — with 11 goals and seven assists establishing him as one of the division’s most productive wide men.
His contract at Craven Cottage expires at the end of the season, making him a very sought-after free agent.
The 69-times capped Wales international came through Liverpool’s ranks and, according to TEAMtalk, remains highly regarded there — and his development in the years since have only deepened the respect he commands at the club.
Sources close to Wilson suggest the Anfield option has not been closed off in an ‘intriguing twist’, with Salah’s departure creating an obvious gap on the right side and Liverpool’s planning already in motion.
A player of Wilson’s current output and Premier League pedigree represents a potentially sharp piece of business on a free transfer.
It is worth noting that the competition is fierce.
Tottenham, Man United, Everton, Aston Villa, Leeds and Sunderland are all in the picture alongside Liverpool — and Wilson’s representatives are expected to begin formal talks with interested parties in the coming weeks.
Fulham, for their part, are actively working to keep him. Whatever the outcome, it is a situation Slot’s recruitment team will be following very closely.
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The Reds have been invited to bid.