Liverpool could make third attempt to sign transfer target after extensive Richard Hughes scouting

Liverpool have long been linked with a move for one of new sporting director Richard Hughes’ best buys at AFC Bournemouth

Liverpool might have been working without a sporting director since the end of January, but the Reds’ summer transfer plans have not been left on hold.

Instead, since Jorg Schmadtke’s short-term tenure came to an end, their preparations have been led by head of recruitment Dave Fallows and chief scout Barry Hunter. And while Richard Hughes, who has now been confirmed as the club’s next sporting director, won’t start until June 1 and the search for Jurgen Klopp’s successor is ongoing, it remains business as usual behind the scenes at Anfield.

Needing a new manager for the first time since October 2015, it will be intriguing to see what the club’s intended summer business looks like when the transfer window re-opens. Both in terms of what the recruitment team are currently working on and what Hughes and the next manager deem necessary.

Six months ago, onlookers would have been adamant that Liverpool likely needed a new holding midfielder, right-back, centre-back, and back-up goalkeeper at least, with question marks over the long-term future of Mohamed Salah, who is out of contract in 2025, also ensuring the front-line might not be immune from such surgery.

But while some incoming business will depend on outgoings, the emergence of so many talented youngsters from the Reds’ academy in the face of an ever-growing injury crisis in recent months has provided a plethora of internal solutions.

“We’ve said it a few times that the future does not look too bad,” Klopp reminded onlookers after beating Southampton in the FA Cup last month. “But maybe the people don’t forget it when the transfer window opens.

“We have a couple of pretty promising players already, so don’t close the door for them with 12 signings.”

Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley and Bobby Clark are arguably the first names that come to mind after such a declaration, but they are by no means the only starlets who have fast-become first team players.

Yet even with the emergence of Quansah, a new centre-back is perhaps the easiest pitch to push at Anfield. Klopp had admitted the club were in the market for such a player last year, after all, before having to focus fully on their midfield revamp, while Joel Matip is out of contract in the summer and club captain Virgil van Dijk, whose own deal expires in 2025, is the wrong side of 30.

Last year, a young, left-sided option with the club’s preference before they decided to promote Quansah. Yet his emergence has not halted ongoing transfer speculation, with the likes of Marc Guehi, Piero Hincapie, Ousmane Diomande and Goncalo Inacio among those to regularly have found themselves associated with Liverpool in the transfer gossip columns over the past season.

Yet, could Hughes’ appointment see the Reds turn to a previous target, who has also found himself again linked with a move to Merseyside this season?

Lloyd Kelly is out of contract at Bournemouth at the end of the 2023/24 season and, having seen Tottenham Hotspur have a £20m bid rejected for his services last summer, is yet to sign an extension. As things stand, he will depart on a Bosman transfer at the end of the season.

“He is very valuable as a centre-back or a left-back and we want him to be part of the team,” Bournemouth boss Adoni Iraola said of Kelly following Spurs’ bid, before alluding to a possible future exit. “Sometimes they are situations you cannot control and every party has to be happy for something to happen.”

Kelly has been on the Reds’ radar twice before. Having caught the eye with Bristol City in the Championship, Liverpool had wanted to sign the then-20-year-old as a deputy to Andy Robertson in the summer of 2019, only for him to join Bournemouth in a £13m deal instead with such a price putting off Anfield bosses.

And the defender was shortlisted as a potential target again 12 months later following the Cherries’ relegation. On a four-man shortlist along with Kostas Tsimikas, Jamal Lewis and Sergio Reguilon, the Reds ultimately opted to move for the Greek, with Kelly only their ‘fourth-choice’ target and disregarded following the failed pursuit in 2019.

But now, it could be third-time lucky for Liverpool if they do indeed reignite interest in the Bournemouth defender.

Such a move would make sense for a variety of reasons if it did come to fruition. For starters, it wouldn’t be the first time the Reds have successfully gone back in for a former target, with Salah the most famous and Ryan Gravenberch the latest example.

Now 25, Kelly’s best years are still ahead of him and his expiring contract status is certainly attractive. Meanwhile, he is homegrown so would bolster Liverpool quotas, with his versatility equally alluring. As Irola pointed out, regardless of who the defender plays for, he is very valuable at both centre-back and left-back.

Hughes played a vital role in bringing the defender to the Vitality Stadium, and, in April 2021 when speaking to the Official AFC Bournemouth Podcast, revealed the extent of scouting the Cherries had done on the defender prior to signing him.

“Lloyd Kelly, it wasn’t just his appearances for England Under-21s and Bristol City’s first team where we had scouted him,” he said. “There was a body of work that had gone into him in younger age-groups at Bristol, which gives you the ability to act quicker I think.

“So when Lloyd comes on and does really well in one Championship game, you kind of know that was always going to happen if you looked at him beforehand.”

Clearly, he is a player that Hughes knows well and one that both Liverpool and their new sporting director have done their homework on over the years. He would also be best-placed to recommend the defender to the Reds if convinced he could be a successful signing at Anfield.

If Liverpool intend to sign a new centre-back this summer, with Kelly available on a free transfer, their new sporting director could help them finally get their man.