Thursday’s Liverpool Round-Up: Guehi Alternative, Salah’s Record & Konaté Update 🔴
It’s been another busy day of Liverpool headlines — featuring a potential new defensive target, another milestone for Mohamed Salah, and fresh news on Ibrahima Konaté’s fitness.
Main Headline: Liverpool Eye Zeno Debast as Guehi Alternative
Liverpool remain strongly interested in Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi, with reports suggesting a move is more likely in the summer than in January.
However, according to outlets in Portugal, Sporting’s Zeno Debast has now emerged as a possible alternative. The 21-year-old Belgian, praised for his passing ability and composure from his days as a midfielder, reportedly fits the Arne Slot-style centre-back profile perfectly.
Portuguese publication Record supports earlier claims from Voetbal Nieuws, adding that Ousmane Diomande (Sporting), Sven Botman (Newcastle) and Willian Pacho (PSG) are also being monitored.
With clubs such as Man United, Arsenal, Dortmund, and Napoli also credited with interest, it’s unclear whether this is genuine movement or agent noise — but Debast certainly ticks the boxes Liverpool are looking for.
Sporting, however, will demand a hefty fee, as the young defender still has four years left on his contract.
Other LFC Headlines
- 📰 Post-Salah Planning: Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise is seen as a potential summer target should Liverpool need to replace Salah (Mail).
- 🌍 Travel Woes for Mac Allister: Argentina’s final international match was rescheduled and moved to a different U.S. state — not ideal for his chances of starting against Man United.
- ⚽ Salah’s New Record: Mo Salah has now scored more World Cup qualifying goals than any African player in history, helping Egypt move a step closer to the 2026 tournament.
- 🇫🇷 Konaté Fitness Update: The French defender continues to train separately with France but reportedly feels no discomfort — a promising sign for Liverpool.
- 🔁 Centre-Back Reinforcements: Liverpool’s pursuit of Marc Guehi remains active, though the player himself has distanced from transfer talk ahead of England’s qualifiers.
Squad Workload Watch
After a grueling stretch of seven games in 21 days, Joanna Durkan notes that Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai top the minutes chart (540 each), playing nearly every game in full.
Ryan Gravenberch (512 mins) isn’t far behind, while Alexis Mac Allister, Alexander Isak, and Conor Bradley have been carefully managed due to their disrupted summers.
Elsewhere in Football
- 🩺 Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans will miss up to five weeks with a calf injury, ruling him out of the Nov 1 clash vs. Liverpool (The Athletic).
- 🏟️ Burnley’s owners have completed a takeover of LaLiga club Espanyol, echoing FSG’s own multi-club ambitions (The Athletic).
- 🔴 Man United are reportedly prepared to give Ruben Amorim three full years to prove himself — despite 21 losses in his first 50 matches (Business Podcast).
On This Day: The First Floodlit Derby 💡
On October 9, 1957, Liverpool helped make Merseyside football history as floodlights were used for the first time at Goodison Park during a two-legged friendly with Everton, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Liverpool County FA.
The “Floodlit Challenge Cup” became an annual event for several years, with over 58,000 fans attending the inaugural match — Everton won the first leg 2–0 before Liverpool took the return 3–2.
A busy day, as always, for the Reds — from new transfer whispers to records being broken and players returning to fitness.
Liverpool’s future may be uncertain in some areas, but the headlines? Never dull.
