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Slot 'cuts' 4 players from Liverpool first-team squad as transfer exits expected

  /  autty

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has cut four players from the first-team ahead of the new Premier League season.

Ben Doak, Tyler Morton, Lewis Koumas and Harvey Blair all featured for the Reds on their pre-season tour of the US, but were back in action for the under-21s as they beat Ipswich 5-2 in a behind closed doors friendly match.

Morton, Koumas and Blair all got on the scoresheet, along with Kieran Morrison and Billy Koumetio. And both Morton and Doak could be on the move before the transfer window slams shut later this month.

Morton, 21, spent last season on loan at Hull in the Championship and has been heavily linked with a permanent exit. Serie A side Atalanta and Bundesliga club RB Leipzig are among the teams said to be interested in his services.

The Daily Mail are reporting that Liverpool value the midfielder at £20million, with fellow Premier League sides Ipswich, Southampton and Bournemouth also credited with an interest in Morton. Doak, meanwhile, is expected to leave Liverpool on loan this summer.

According to the Express, Brentford, Southampton and Leicester are all interested in signing the teenager on a season-long loan deal. Doak joined Liverpool from Celtic in 2022 for £600,000, but injuries have limited his progress so far.

In terms of incomings, Liverpool have yet to make a signing so far this summer, with new boss Arne Slot insisting they will only buy a player if they meet the 'really high bar' needed to succeed at Anfield.

He said: "The bar is really high for new signings because we have so many good players so it is not so easy to first find a player to meet those standards and then is he available? Then we have to find an agreement with them, so it is not always easy to find a player who can help us but [sporting director] Richard [Hughes] is working hard on it and let's see what comes from this.

"The best way to judge it is when we have all the players back and we still haven't. But a club like Liverpool always keeps its eye open to see what's available, players that can strengthen the squad and that is what we - Richard mostly - but me as well are looking to do but that is not particular to one position. We constantly evaluate the squad where can we do something and what do we have."

The Reds have now identified Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi as a potential addition this summer, and are expected to make a move for the Euro 2024 winner.

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