There’s set to be plenty of change at Liverpool over the course of this summer.
With Jurgen Klopp’s time at the club now officially over, the Reds are preparing for life under a new head coach.
And while there is rightful excitement over what the appointment of Arne Slot may bring, there may also be some be some anxiety.
Some of that worry will no doubt belong to members of the Liverpool squad. Comfortable and familiar with Klopp at the helm, they’re now dealing with the small matter of impressing the new head coach over pre-season.
For some, they perhaps won’t be able to cross that bridge. And according to journalist David Lynch, it could now be the end of the road for one player at Anfield.
Kostas Tsimikas set to leave Liverpool
By and large, it was a good season for Liverpool. A number of players really stepped up in Klopp’s last year in charge. Click here to find out how we rated each member of the Reds squad individually.
But not everyone had such a good campaign. As happens every summer, there’s some who look like they could do with moving on.
This time, that dubious honour goes to Kostas Tsimikas. The Liverpool left-back played just 25 times all season and made only five appearances in the final two months of the campaign. And speaking on his YouTube channel on Wednesday, journalist Lynch claimed that this lack of game time could now see Tsimikas leave the club.
“Kostas Tsimikas is not one where there’s been any reports, but he’s 28-years-old, he barely featured in the second half of the season,” explains the reporter.
“You had Joe Gomez there who jumped ahead of him in the left-back pecking order. I think this is the summer you maybe make the decision that it’s time to move on.
“Obviously the offer’s got to be right for him, it’s got to be right for Liverpool. He did only sign a fresh contract last summer but I think that was very much about protecting his value.
“No developments on that yet but it’s just one I would say to absolutely keep an eye on. I think Kostas Tsimikas could be a little bit of a story this summer in terms of a potential departure because he will want to play more football. Even though there’s a change of manager there might be an opportunity for him to go elsewhere and be first choice because I don’t think that opportunity is going to be available to him here.”
The time is right for Tsimikas goodbye
Tsimikas has had a funny old Liverpool career. Although he’s now been at Anfield for four seasons, he’s only played 86 times for the Reds.
That’s 12 less than the much-chastised Thiago Alcantara, who arrived at the same time as the Greek.
Clearly, Tsimikas was never going to be a player who came in and set new appearance records for the Reds. At just £12m, he was well-priced for a back-up option.
And while he’s had his moments – an FA Cup winning penalty the clear highlight – it does feel that the time is right for Kostas to move on.
An incredibly popular member of the squad, you could understand Slot keeping him around, too. But the fact is that Liverpool could get a decent fee for Tsimikas and he no longer looks like a necessity in the squad. Let’s see where it goes from here.