Liverpool could hand Man Utd latest transfer blow after £176m truth

It's a situation that Jurgen Klopp couldn’t have envisaged.

While the Liverpool manager expected a fairly busy summer transfer window, particularly in midfield, losing two of his tried-and-trusted generals was not foreseen.

The departures of James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were all planned for. After the Reds moved swiftly to sign Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai for a combined £95 million, Klopp's next step would have been plotting how they'd fit into his engine room.

There has always been talk of an additional option coming in - someone younger who could serve as an understudy in the defensive midfield area. Romeo Lavia has been heavily linked following Southampton's relegation from the Premier League.

But now Liverpool appear they'll need a direct replacement for Fabinho. While the Brazil international suffered a lacklustre 2022-23 season - like many of his team-mates - he still looked set to head into the upcoming campaign at the fulcrum of Klopp's plans. The new 3-2-2-3 formation deployed at the back end of last term rejuvenated Fabinho's performances and there were hopes that he'd gone through just a dip.

However, a permanent exit appears likely. Fabinho has been left out of the Reds' pre-season training camp in Germany as a £40 million exit to Al-Ittihad looks likely.

Klopp will be all too aware that filling the void of the 29-year-old with a rookie isn't prudent. Lavia has just 29 Premier League appearances to his name while fellow teenager Stefan Bajcetic, who made a magnificent first-team breakthrough last season, has only 11 himself. Neither have the experience to regularly police the middle of the park.

Klopp and sporting director Jorg Schmadtke find themselves an unforeseen position. They'll be back to the drawing board plotting who could be the over-ready successor. Factor in Jordan Henderson's precarious future to boot, with Steven Gerrard keen to sign the Liverpool captain for Al-Ettifaq and it's a position that is unprecedented in Klopp's eight years on Merseyside.

One player who has been mentioned to replace Fabinho is Sofyan Amrabat. The midfielder could well be ready to depart Fiorentina, having spent the previous three years in Italy.

Amrabat may have been relatively unheard of to the average Kopite - before the 2022 World Cup that is. The 26-year-old was the lynchpin of a Morocco side that no-one could have predicted. The Atlas Lions went all the way to the semi-finals, knocking out Spain and Portugal before being eliminated by France.

A summer switch could well be in the offing for Amrabat. Certainly, based on his performances in Qatar, plenty of Liverpool fans would be fully behind the decision if he's the player to come in.

And much to supporters' delight, it could also see the Reds hijack Manchester United yet again. The Red Devils are said to be keen on the former Feyenoord man, although that may depend on the sale of Scott McTominay. But if Klopp was to beat United to Amrabat, it'd be the latest arrival who opted for Anfield rather than Old Trafford.

Earlier this summer, Mac Allister was coveted by several teams. But the World Cup winner from Argentina preferred to be part of Klopp's rebuild. In December, it was a bolt from the blue when it emerged that Liverpool had agreed to sign Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven. The forward had long been admired by Erik ten Hag but the Reds completed a £44 million deal.

The previous summer, United had been mooted as a potential destination for Darwin Nunez. They were not prepared to get into a bidding war with Liverpool, though, and the striker moved to Anfield for an initial fee of £64 million.

Sadio Mane was another who snubbed United when he left Southampton in the summer of 2016. It was the influence of Klopp that saw the Senegal international prised to Anfield for £36 million.

The likes of Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips and Bayern Munich's Ryan Gravenberch have been mentioned as other possible Fabinho replacements. But there's no doubt that Amrabat will be a name that plenty will be keeping an eye on.