Liverpool agree terms with Sadio Mane replacement after source’s transfer reveal – pundit
Alan Hutton has suggested Fulham starlet Fabio Carvalho could be a long-term replacement for Sadio Mane at Liverpool.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Scotland defender insisted the Reds are readying themselves in case any of their more senior stars depart.
A recruitment source told Football Insider on Monday (28 March) that Liverpool have agreed a deal in principle to sign Carvalho, 19, on a free transfer this summer.
The Reds will have to pay a compensation fee but neither club wants that to be determined by an independent tribunal.
Liverpool have agreed personal terms with the winger and are now confident of getting a deal over the line.
Hutton suggested the teenager could be a long-term replacement for the club’s top stars.
“What I like about Liverpool is they’re not standing still with the front three they have,” Hutton told Football Insider’s Russell Edge.
“Arguably, people would say at one stage that was the best three in football. Instead of saying: ‘Let’s just squeeze them, see how we can get out of them, let’s get another year,’ they’re looking into the future.
“Obviously Diaz, Jota, Carvalho, these guys coming in. They’re all adding competition and making Liverpool a better team. That’s what Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool have done really well.
“They are looking to the future. There’s going to be competition. Could somebody possibly leave? A Salah or a Mane? We’ll have to wait and see.
“What they’re doing is they’re not allowing that to happen without a having a ready replacement. They’ve already taken charge of that situation with the next in line, the next off the conveyor belt.”
Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino are all out of contract next summer.
In other news, Kieran Maguire: Liverpool will be ‘delighted’ by £333m news from America.