Liverpool have just days to move for their big AFCON transfer

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Liverpool have little time left if they’re to secure a transfer ahead of AFCON. The Reds may want serious cover as players depart.

Liverpool have a problem coming up. The Africa Cup of Nations will rob them of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita next month, ruling them out of Premier League fixtures. Not exactly ideal, given those first two are vital to Liverpool’s system,

But perhaps the club has a plan. Fabrizio Romano said back in early November that Liverpool wanted to sign a winger in January. That was with the primary intention of covering Salah & Mane while AFCON takes place.

It’s a plan that makes some sense. Introduce some new ideas, boost the quality in the squad and maybe Liverpool don’t drop points. If it is the plan, though, they’re leaving it late.

Liverpool running out of time for AFCON transfer

Liverpool will likely lose Salah, Mane and Keita on January 3rd – directly after their game against Chelsea. Fortunately, they might not need a big-money signing for two weeks after that. Their only games come against Arsenal and Shrewsbury in the EFL Cup and FA Cup respectively.

But for the Brentford game on January 16th, they’d surely want that signing. Which is why they’d need to secure the player ASAP. The later he arrives, after all, the later he can adapt and we’ve seen how long it takes certain players to adapt to Liverpool.

Getting a deal done now would mean an early January arrival. Any later than that and Liverpool are pushing it, with any arrival needing to hit the ground running to offer any AFCON cover.

Liverpool might already have their best possible cover, of course, in Diogo Jota. But if they want to add to that by bringing in another winger, they’ll need to act fast.