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With Liverpool having signed Alexis Mac Allister, the club will now move their focus on to other targets, with several midfielders reportedly being considered by Jurgen Klopp this summer – but who fits the Reds’ system the best?

Typically, Liverpool acted quickly following the end of the season to finalize their move for Mac Allister, 24, with the Argentina international moving to Anfield in a deal worth an initial £35m.

However, Mac Allister’s arrival is not expected to be the last piece of business conducted by the club’s new sporting director, Jorg Schmadtke, who only took up his role at the end of May.

Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner will all leave when their contracts expire at the end of June, while Arthur Melo returns to Juventus after the conclusion of his loan deal.

“It makes sense to add greater depth given Fabinho will be 30 in October,” said Sky Sports News’ Liverpool reporter Vinny O’Connor.

“Jordan Henderson will turn 33 this month. Thiago is 32 and has been beset by injury problems during his time at Anfield and has only 12 months remaining on his contract.

“Further options would also aid rather than hinder the continued development of Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Stefan Bajcetic and Fabio Carvalho, who could still be freed up for a loan spell for more regular first-team football.”

Despite the Mac Allister deal having been wrapped up in quick time, Liverpool are conscious of the competition they face for other midfielders and the scale of the rebuild that still awaits – with at least one defensive signing also expected – meaning Schmadtke will now turn his attention to other possible signings.

But which of those reported targets should the Reds move for this summer and why?

Manu Kone
Age: 22
Club: Borussia Monchengladbach
Contract expires: 2025

As reported by SSN senior reporter Melissa Reddy last August, Liverpool have been monitoring the progress of Kone, along with Brighton’s Moises Caicedo and new Bayern Munich signing Konrad Laimer, as cheaper alternatives to first-choice targets Jude Bellingham, Ryan Aurelien Tchouameni and Nicolo Barella.

Schmadtke will know the holding midfielder, who is also reportedly interesting Man Utd, from his time at Monchengladbach, who he moved to from Toulouse in January 2021. It will be the France U21 international’s impressive off-the-ball work, especially his ability to win back possession, that will not have gone unnoticed by the new Liverpool sporting director.

In particular, Kone produced a powerful midfield display to help Monchengladbach shock Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich 3-2 at home in February, the sort of eye-catching performance that will have made Europe’s scouts sit up and take notice.

Chephren Thuram
Age: 22
clubs: Nice
Contract expires: 2025

Thuram, the son of France World Cup winner Lilian and younger brother of Monchengladbach’s Marcus, is another young and up-and-coming midfielder reportedly on the Reds’ radar this summer.

Across four seasons in the South of France, the 22-year-old has contributed eight goals and 11 assists in 138 Ligue 1 matches, form that led to his first France call-up and appearance in March.

Unlike Kone, Thuram’s strengths are in possession, especially when it comes to creating chances, but with Liverpool having already signed the more attack-minded Mac Allister, Klopp may now look to bring in a holding midfielder instead.

Nicolo Barella
Age: 26
Club: Inter Milan
Contract expires: 2026

Liverpool scouts made the trip to San Siro several times last season to run their eye over Barella, who has been integral to the Serie A club’s run all the way to the Champions League final, scoring key goals along the way.

The 26-year-old is slightly different in profile to many of the other Liverpool midfielders have recently been looking at in that he is older and with a contract in Milan until 2026, would cost “silly money” to extract him from the club, according to Reddy.

However, if the Reds were able to sign Barella, they would be getting a player who has already shown he can handle the big occasion, given his showing for Italy against England at an intimidating Wembley in the Euro 2020 final.

Meanwhile, Barella’s displays operating on the right-hand side of Inter’s midfield last season showed him to be the complete midfielder with an eye for goal and an assist – he contributed six goals and seven assists in 35 league games.

Klopp will no doubt be watching the Italy midfielder closely when he lines up against Man City in Saturday’s Champions League final as he ponders a possible move for the player.

Romeo Lavia
Age: 19
clubs: southampton
Contract expires: 2027

Liverpool have history when it comes to snapping up players from relegated clubs, most notably when they signed Georginio Wijnaldum [Newcastle United]AndyRobertson [Hull City] and Xherdan Shaqiri [Stoke City] in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Lavia was one of Southampton’s few standout performers as they dropped into the Championship last season, turning in an all-action display as the south coast club drew 3-3 at Arsenal in April, leading to strong reported interest in the defensive midfielder’s services from both Liverpool and Chelsea.

The athletic Belgium international only moved to St Mary’s from Man City last July and although the champions have a buyback clause of £40m, that only comes into effect next summer, which may bring forward any possible Reds move for him.

Ryan Gravenberch
Age: 21
clubs: Bayern Munich
Contract expires: 2027

As revealed by Sky Sports last summer, the Netherlands international was on a shortlist of options that also featured Aurelien Tchouameni, Enzo Fernandez, Barella and the then-unavailable Jude Bellingham for the Premier League club to strengthen their midfield ahead of this season.

Bayern rapidly tied up a deal for Gravenberch from Ajax to beat Liverpool and other European rivals, but he has been afforded just 711 minutes of playing time since that transfer, with Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka preferred.

The 21-year-old’s representative, Rafaela Pimenta, explored loan options in January, but the Bundesliga club were unwilling to permit a winter exit.

Pimenta met with Liverpool at the turn of the year and in April and Bayern are open to selling Gravenberch, although they want to recoup the £20m fee – including add-ons – they agreed for him, as well as a small profit.

Bayern’s public position is that they will not listen to offers for the player, who is also understood to be interesting Man City, but they are unable to offer him game time as his representatives work on a solution.

Gabrielle Veiga
Age: 21
Club: Celta Vigo
Contract expires: 2026

As well as Liverpool, Barcelona, ​​​​Newcastle United and Chelsea are also all reportedly in for Veiga this summer after the exciting Spain U21 international’s breakout season last time out, when he managed 11 goals and four assists in 36 LaLiga outings.

Veiga may currently be contracted to the club until 2026, but that deal contains a £34.4m buyout clause that could tempt clubs to move for him, including the Reds, who are understood to now be switching their attention to the 21-year-old now the deal for Mac Allister has been finalised.

Frank Kessy
Age: 26
Club: Barcelona
Contract expires: 2026

Eyebrows may have been raised when reports claimed Liverpool were weighing up a move for Kessie given the 26-year-old only joined Barcelona from AC Milan last summer.

However, Kessie was not always a first choice under Xavi Hernandez in his debut campaign at the Nou Camp and with the LaLiga champions needing to offload players ahead of next season in order to bring in their favored targets, the Ivory Coast midfielder maybe for sale.

Kessie scored 41 times in just 204 Serie A games for Atalanta and Milan, impressive numbers for a midfielder and with Liverpool having lacked goals from that area of ​​the team of late, you can understand why Klopp would be looking at the player.

Whether that interest materializes in a summer move, though, remains to be seen.