🔴 EOTK INSIDER 🔴: Mbappe hands Liverpool lifeline, Ex-Red could turn Klopp's head... and more! ✍️

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Good afternoon, Reds!

It’s been an interesting week for all, with the Miracle of Instanbul’s mastermind, Rafael Benitez, shocking both the red and blue halves of Merseyside by taking the vacant hotseat at Goodison Park.

In other news, we’re pretty excited here at EOTK Insider following the release of the first episode of The Red Nets podcast, the official podcast of Empire of the Kop (which you can catch below!).

We considered the latest round of bizarre and bold transfer rumours and faced the question that’s continuing to inspire some serious head-scratching: what on earth is Liverpool’s actual transfer budget?

Ballpark suggestions have stemmed from The Athletic’s claim of there being a £60m target in place for player sales, but it remains entirely unclear as to the importance of that figure.

There had been an initial thought that outgoings would completely define the scope of Liverpool’s potential incomings, however, a number of reporters close to the club have since backtracked slightly from this opinion.

We know we’re most likely not going to be shattering any transfer records anytime soon, partly due to the financial constraints imposed by COVID-19, not to mention our sustainable model when it comes to transfer business.

However, let’s ignore all that for a moment and play a fun little game that could very well end with those reading this curled in a ball, rocking back and forth in the shower - let’s talk about a worst-case scenario or, at the very least, moderately worst-case.

Let’s assume we hit that £60m mark but that it’s all we have for the recruitment team to spend on a midfield replacement for Georginio Wijnaldum and a new attacker.

It would be rather bleak news for a number of transfer links, leaving us with the pursuit of up and coming talents undiscovered by the media spotlight or more established, if underappreciated, Wijnaldum-esque stars with boundless potential yet to be tapped into.

Even if we lack the resources to pull off game-changing transfers, we can rest assured that the recruitment team will have identified suitable targets many of us will probably have never heard of before.

Assuming that our next two signings set us back a similar amount each to that which we parted ways with for Ibrahima Konate, total reliance on player sales would still enable the club to meet the ideal transfer quota of a new midfielder and forward.

We’d still have to sell those on the fringes of the Liverpool squad, of course, which is far from a sure thing given the reported resistance we’re receiving already with the likes of Marko Grujic and Harry Wilson, with interested parties apparently struggling to meet our valuation of the out-of-favour stars.

Normally, this may justifiably invite some level of panic, but with the European Championship ongoing and Michael Edwards leading our transfer efforts, we’re far from needing to champ on our last set of nails.

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#Ep1 of The Red Nets Podcast: Klopp has asked club to pursue Liga Nos star, interest in ‘dark arts’ midfielder… and more

Since missing France’s final penalty in the European Championship to earn Didier Deschamps’ international outfit an early exit from the competition, reports have claimed that the Frenchman is prepared to run down his contract at PSG if the Ligue 1 side won’t offload him this summer. It’s opened up some interesting avenues for Europe’s elite, with Liverpool also apparently expressing an interest in one Atletico Madrid star as a potential Wijnaldum replacement, in addition to one of Austria’s high-performing talents.

Editor's Column: With Rafa Benitez officially becoming the Everton manager, has he killed his Liverpool legacy?

The Spaniard is rightly considered a Liverpool legend, but his switch to Goodison Park has left a sour taste in the mouths of both the red and blue halves of Merseyside. Does it mean we should lose respect for the architect of the Miracle of Istanbul? Or is this just another managerial move that we need to treat as being separate from the individual and his legacy?

We could re-sign a former Anfield favourite, who would likely be a success again in the Premier League, for peanuts… but should we?

Will they, won’t they? If the reports are to be believed, Liverpool have been mulling over re-signing the 29-year-old playmaker ever since it became apparent that his ill-fated switch to La Liga would not have a happy ending. According to one former Red, it’s a move we should really consider this summer, particularly given that we could likely arrange a bargain return.

Liverpool find out how much they’ll need to spend to secure Bayern attacker… both his father and agent pushing for a move out of the club

It’s the kind of signing Liverpool should be interested in, if the player is interested in a potential switch. The forward’s theoretically attainable, young enough to grow with the squad and with enough quality to represent a genuine challenge to our incumbent front-three starters.

And last but not least…

Liverpool could pursue potential bargain Premier League flop who has emerged from the Euros a changed man

With Wijnaldum having departed on a free transfer, Liverpool are in desperate need of a quality signing who can immediately slot in and prevent Jurgen Klopp from being forced to rely on injury-prone backup options in Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. We probably won’t have the money to go for an instant world-beater, but there’s a pretty exciting option we could go for who’s only 23 and has plenty of room left to grow.