Liverpool hold talks to sign £85m midfielder

Liverpool have to head into the 2026/27 season with their focus on challenging for titles.

After all, FSG are set on spending a pretty penny this summer to put to rights the issues that festered under Arne Slot’s management over the past year.

It has not been good enough, and Andoni Iraola will know that he needs to make a fast start, even in a new seat, even after Liverpool finished fifth in the Premier League, even now that Mohamed Salah has drawn down the curtain on his Anfield career.

Right now, all the noise has been cranked toward the forwards, but strengthening in the middle of the park is just as important for the Anfield persuasion.

Liverpool making calls for in-demand midfielder

Yan Diomande and Bradley Barcola are both names being discussed by Liverpool decision-makers. Diomande has already been the subject of an official, and rejected, bid.

FSG are nothing if not ambitious, but they need to employ a sniper’s approach this summer, edging away from the scattergun strategy that failed to support Slot’s vision last season.

It’s imperative that Liverpool polish up their frontline, but that alone will not reorient Liverpool, restoring balance to a title-challenging team.

Once these attacking issues are ironed out, Liverpool need to sign a midfielder. Or two.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool have made calls in the past few weeks to understand the conditions for a potential deal for West Ham United midfielder Mateus Fernandes, one of the most in-demand players in England right now.

In full, Romano said: “I will tell you something that was not so public in the recent days and weeks. Liverpool made a call two weeks ago to understand the situation of Fernandes at West Ham, to understand the price and conditions, but they didn’t return with any bid or any official conversation. They made a call two weeks ago, I can guarantee that. Tottenham and Man United are busy with a deal, so there are so many clubs involved. The player is going to be expensive, more than £85m. It means Liverpool are working on midfielders.”

West Ham might have been relegated to the Championship last month, but they still believe they have one of Europe’s most talented midfielders, a player who would fit in like a glove at Liverpool.

Why Fernandes would be Liverpool’s dream midfield signing

Fernandes has suffered back-to-back relegations from the Premier League, but those blots on the copybook have not diminished him, still recognised as a midfield profile who could enhance the very best of teams.

Aged 22, he’s not even developed into the “ultimate Premier League midfielder” yet, even though former Southampton star Jo Tessem has remarked that that is his level.

He’s not the only midfielder on Liverpool’s radar, though. Last week, it emerged that LOSC Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, who is only 18 and yet has burst onto the scene for Morocco, with FSG officials rumoured to have flown out to ascertain whether a move could be realistic.

Even if this is the case, Liverpool might want to maintain their pursuit of Fernandes as their first-choice option. The Portuguese prospect could well be the cream of the crop ahead of the melee for a new midfielder that is about to storm into life.

Bearing a similar profile to Morocco’s emergent maestro, Fernandes is arguably more complete and more physically robust, if a little less elegant.

Bouaddi is almost balletic in the way he dances around the pitch – like a kid in the playground, if the kid in question was endowed with the grace and intelligence of a professional.

Liverpool have sublime technical skill in Florian Wirtz and Ryan Gravenberch. Instead, they need someone grittier, and that is why Fernandes would be the perfect signing. The fact that he too is one of the most technically gifted midfielders in England is a nice juicy bonus.

Hailed as a “superstar” for West Ham by football writer Joost van der Leij, Fernandes would be the dream for a Liverpool side in transition. He is both progressive and physical, and may well reignite Gravenberch, who drifted throughout the 2025/26 campaign but won the previous term’s Young Player of the Year award as he helped Slot’s project toward the title.

Bouaddi would be a fine pick, having showed that over the past few weeks at the World Cup, but Liverpool need to pick the best possible option as they fight to return to the ascendancy.

Fernandes is one of the most exciting midfielders in England; with two years’ experience battling against relegation, he is now ready to join an outfit challenging for the highest place on the podium.

Bouaddi could be a welcome addition, but is it a given that he would fire on all cylinders right away in the Premier League? That’s what Liverpool need, and Fernandes would fit the bill.