Liverpool boss Slot suggests Nunez could leave before Community Shield

Liverpool boss Arne Slot admits there is a chance Darwin Nunez will leave ahead of their Community Shield clash with Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium.

It's understood Liverpool have accepted an offer from Al Hilal for the Uruguay striker.

Asked for an update this morning, Slot replied: "Things are not signed yet, but there is indeed a chance that he's going to leave.

"At this moment in time, Darwin might leave, but things are not signed yet, so we need to wait a few days until that maybe is completely done, but there is a chance he could leave." 

On the prospect of the sale leading Liverpool to try again for Alexander Isak after a £110m offer was rejected by Newcastle last week, Slot was coy.

He continued: "These are a lot of questions I do not want. You never talk about players that are not yours, so I can talk to you about Hugo (Ekitike), who we have signed recently and has done really well until now.

"We are very happy with the squad we have, and there is every reason to be happy because we won the league last season. Okay, players left, but we have brought players in as well, and the youngsters are doing well.

"I think we have a lot of attacking power in our team. When I think about Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa, Hugo Ekitike, Mo Salah, Jeremie Frimpong, who can play as a right-winger, Florian Wirtz, who can play as a left-winger - I already feel I have a lot of attacking options in my current squad.

"But, as always, as a club, we are always looking at the chances in the market, but that can also be in the midfield or the last line." 

New faces to feature at Wembley

On Liverpool's preparations going into Sunday's Community Shield against Crystal Palace, Slot was optimistic.

The Reds will meet the FA Cup winners, boasting the likes of Wirtz, Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Frimpong as new additions.

Slot said, "The good thing about last season was the whole squad stayed, so they knew each other very well already.

"Now, a few players have left and we have brought a few players in, so that always takes a bit of adaptation because the players we have brought in - some of them have different qualities to the qualities we already have. They need to adjust to their new teammates, but we have to adjust to them as well.

"We have been working for four weeks already, so that is the pleasing part about not having a World Cup or another international tournament, so we can work with them from the start." 

Ngumoha to play?

Before signing off, along with the summer additions, Slot was asked if we could see superkid Rio Ngumoha at Wembley after his impressive preseason form.

Slot added, "He and Trey (Nyoni) have an incredible chance to work and be around players like Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah every day to see what they do to be ready to perform every three days, and that is a step these players have to take, and that is completely normal.

"We want to develop them the best way we can, but we also have to take care of them. We are aware of that, but it has been promising for him, like for Trey as well."