Top 5 Liverpool players likely to leave this summer

If we judge by the acquisitions made by a club over a transfer window & see their line-ups during the first few matches, it would be obvious which players have no future with the club.

Five of these listed Liverpool FC players are set to leave the club, having been frozen to the fringes of the team. Some of the names, however, most Liverpool fans would be more than glad to see leave.

January 2012 saw this youngster sign from Sporting CP to Liverpool. However, he has primarily been a bench-warmer and a reserve player. The 2014/15 season saw him loaned to Championship side Brighton, where he helped the club avoid relegation from the league.

While he has been included in the Liverpool squad for the season, his preferred position is taken by Coutinho. He really has three options with him. The first is to shine in the Capital One cup and Europa League matches and capitalize on any opportunities that present themselves during the season. The second is, he could go on loan and continue to develop at his temporary club. And lastly, he could depart in search for new pastures.

He is gifted, no doubt, but will take a lot of hard work to really replace Liverpool’s Brazilian magician and it might be more tempting for Teixeira to leave the squad.

Back in 2012, Fabio Borini was the first player to be signed by Brendan Rodgers when he took charge of Liverpool. He was known to Rodgers during the manager’s days at Chelsea and Swansea. He scored in his second game for the club in the Europa League but injuries & lack-lustre performances affected his first season, with only two goals to his name.

He was loaned to Sunderland in 2013/14 and had a fairly successful spell with 10 goals in 40 games. A move looked certain but fell apart and he was a squad-rotational player in 2014/15 and was able to score just once in 18 matches.

This season, he is not likely to feature in any match with the additions Liverpool have made to their front line. However, he is on a high-wage bill and no team would really want to match that and/or the transfer fee Liverpool are asking for a player who has not really lived up to his potential. Borini rejects a team on the grounds of salary, so it does indicate that he is more than happy to see out his contract with Liverpool and then sign elsewhere on a free transfer. However, Liverpool will hope some team will be willing to meet his wages and the club would be more than willing to take a hit on the transfer fee.

A long-time servant of Liverpool, Lucas Leiva is a firm fan-favourite with the passion he shows for the club. However, since 2011, he has been plagued by long and somewhat frequent injuries. These injuries mean he is regularly kept in and out of the squad. He is not getting the game time he wants, despite signing two long-term contracts since 2011.

However, he is inching closer to an exit. He had a bust up with Rodgers, according to various media outlets in Liverpool. Also, there is no shortage of suitors with Juventus & Inter Milan wanting his services.

Unlike some of the other names on this list, he is not rejecting any possible suitor for money but wants to play regular football. Given the level and composition of the Liverpool midfield, it will be in everyone’s best interest for him to part ways after eight years with the Anfield club.

Ahh, the curious case of Jose Enrique. When he joined the club at the start of the 2011/12 season and continuing to the 2012/13 season, Enrique was the undisputed preference for the left-back position in the playing XI. Injuries and the emergence of Jon Flanagan have changed the equation. He made just 18 appearances combined over the next two seasons.

With the signing of Moreno and the recovery of Flanagan, coupled with the versatility of youngster Joe Gomez, it seems like the Spaniard has next to no future at Anfield. While he said he has offers from Spain, he says he wants to stay and fight it out for the right-back spot, believing he can still contribute. However, since Rodgers does not include him in the match-day squad, it’s pretty obvious that he doesn’t figure in the manager’s future plans.

Like Borini, he is more than content to see off his contract with high wages for a year before moving on in a free transfer. But, with just a year left, maybe Liverpool will be willing to sell him at a dirt-cheap rate to get him off and move on.

Mario Balotelli’s stay at Anfield is over. The striker failed to deliver a single convincing performance last season. The Italian striker scored 4 goals in 28 matches but accumulated 7 yellow cards. Not the sort of expectations from a 16 million pounds striker. He never got along with his team mates, disputing the captain’s orders during the match and not paying attention to what the management was doing.

His antics did continue but luckily to a lesser extent. He would get a former coach (with whom he was a friend) to the training ground and would not socialise with his team mates. Recently, to show his frustration, he scored an own goal in a training match, surprising everyone. This kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated in a professional club.

Liverpool are looking to replace him through the acquisition of Benteke. However, no team that can afford him wants him and those that are interested cannot afford him. If Liverpool really want to close his chapter at the club, they should take the loss and offload him as soon as possible.