Phil Thompson shares why he was ‘worried’ after hearing that Liverpool wanted to sign Anthony Gordon

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Liverpool are still waiting for the dust to settle from the summer’s international football before firming up their plans for the season.

The European Championship and the Copa America have got a little in the way of Liverpool’s plans for the new campaign.

Arne Slot has had to make do with coaching a skeleton squad at the AXA Training Centre, while transfer plans have pretty much ground to a halt.

But it isn’t just incomings that may have been affected by the two tournaments. The internationals could have meant that one or two potential exits from the Liverpool squad have stalled, too.

With normality now resuming following the conclusion of both competitions, there is renewed worry that Liverpool could lose an important player or two.

Phil Thompson reveals Anthony Gordon worry

It remains to be seen whether Liverpool will put their foot down in the transfer market for the remainder of the summer.

But anyone expecting too much business from the Reds is likely to be disappointed. Liverpool have been linked with Mohamed Simakan this week, but that aside, there are precious little rumours to go on.

Throughout the summer, there have only really been two concrete links for the Reds. Leny Yoro is a ‘dream’ target for Liverpool but it now looks likely that he’s heading elsewhere. That was one.

The second was when Liverpool were in talks to sing Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United at the end of June.

READ MORE: How Newcastle United feel about selling Anthony Gordon to Liverpool

Ultimately, the move for Gordon did not come off. However, we’d suggest that Liverpool’s interest in Gordon has not gone away. A move could be in the pipeline next year, perhaps.

In terms of this summer, though, a push to bring the 23-year-old to Anfield would have left Slot with a few too many left-sided attackers in the squad. As a result, former captain Phil Thompson says he was ‘worried’ that it could mean an exit for Luis Diaz.

“Anthony Gordon was an interesting one,” Thompson told TalkSPORT (16/07/24, 9.24am). “But I was worried that was [to replace] Luis Diaz, because there was talk about him maybe moving.

“His father was making all kind of, sort of giving ideas out, and you thought, Luis Diaz is a really good player. He came back from a bad injury.”

Could Luis Diaz still leave Liverpool?

Diaz’s future has been on hold so far this summer after he and Colombia made it to Monday’s Copa America final.

Having lost out to Alexis Mac Allister and Argentina, Diaz will no doubt be taking some time to process his disappointment.

After that, it will be fascinating to see if he stays at Anfield for Slot’s first season. Diaz has been linked with Barcelona, however the general feeling seems to be that the £50m man will stay put.

It has been claimed that Liverpool would entertain a big offer for Diaz. But with Barcelona strapped for cash, that feels unlikely to happen.

As Thompson points out, Diaz’s father has spoken publicly about him joining Barcelona. However, transfers don’t work that way. For now, with Gordon on the back burner, we think Lucho is going nowhere. Big season ahead for him.