Liverpool star set for summer exit with squad to be 'turned upside down'

Joel Matip is set to leave Liverpool once the season ends with Italian clubs keen on the defender, according to reports.

The centre-half has missed large chunks of the season due to a serious knee injury. He was ruled out for the season after suffering an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament back in December and that has meant he's been unable to prove his worth as his contract winds down.

Italian outlet Corriere Della Sera claims that Matip is open to moving to Rome and, as a result, has kept tabs on the progress of both Roma and Lazio. Both clubs appeal to the Cameroonian, although he is wary of the pay cut he'd have to take if he moved away from Anfield.

Matip has proved to be a reliable partner for Virgil van Dijk and was signed early in the Jurgen Klopp era. He's been present for all their success under the German and, despite leaving the dugout, the Liverpool manager had hoped the club would show some class and offer him a new deal despite his lay off.

Klopp believes that his years of service for the club should afford him some generosity from Liverpool while he undergoes rehabilitation. He said recently: “I’m pretty sure the club will show their class, just how they should do.

“I’m pretty sure the club told Joel already that whatever happens so long as he is injured. Now we have to make decisions together with Joel, how it looks after that. That’s a normal thing to do. But yes he deserves all the support from us and he will get it."

Quizzed further on if that meant the club would give him a new contract, Klopp replied: “I would say so but it’s not my decision in the end. I cannot sign the paper.”

Liverpool will welcome a new manager to Anfield in a matter of weeks and changes are likely to occur with a report claiming the team will be 'turned upside down'. Some of their squad members are ageing and the new man is likely to oversee something of an overhaul. Van Dijk has been a towering presence but alongside him Klopp has chopped and changed.

Matip's injury-prone nature could count against him with Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate both failing to make the spot their own. Other big names could also be moved on. Thiago is tipped to head elsewhere whilst the future of Darwin Nunez has become a discussion point as he continues to showcase his flaws.