Liverpool may keep Nat Phillips for the long term amid claims that he could be the long-term heir to Joel Matip at Anfield.
The Reds are set to bring in Darwin Nunez whilst the likes of Ben Doak, Fabio Carvalho and Trent Kone-Doherty have agreed to join.
There will be departures to come though and striker Divock Origi will be moving on to join AC Milan this summer.
It may also be time for the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Takumi Minamino to leave, but things are a little less clear for Phillips.
Liverpool may keep Nat Phillips
Phillips really came to the fore in Liverpool’s injury-ravaged 2020-21 campaign.
Defenders Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all had injury problems, meaning Phillips had to step up with Rhys Williams.
Phillips became something of a cult hero with Liverpool fans as his committed, no nonsense performances earned praise even from Jurgen Klopp, who called the defender ‘absolutely incredible’.
The defender found it trickier this past season though. All of those injured defenders were back and Liverpool paid big money to sign RB Leipzig defender Ibrahima Konate.
Phillips was subsequently sent on loan to Bournemouth in January and helped the Cherries win promotion back to the Premier League.
The expectation was that Bournemouth would then secure a permanent deal for Phillips but that may not be the case.
The Mirror now claim that Liverpool could make a U-turn and only agree to loan Phillips out for next season having previously been ready to sell.
Phillips impressed so much at Bournemouth that Liverpool now think that he could replace Joel Matip going forward.
Bournemouth could take the 25-year-old on loan again, giving him valuable Premier League minutes.
Yet with Matip out of contract in 2024, Liverpool could prime the defender for a bigger role in a couple of years.
Phillips would likely still be behind the likes of Van Dijk, Konate and Gomez but it’s clear that Liverpool rate him highly.
Jurgen Klopp called Phillips ‘absolutely incredible’ last season and it would no longer be a surprise if Liverpool refuse to sell this summer.
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