The difference between Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain across two legs in the Champions League this season was chalk and cheese. This is not a team who are capable of winning the biggest prizes in football, and so major surgery is needed.
Though these are two title-winning outfits, the differences could not be more stark, and Arne Slot now knows that Liverpool will not win silverware this season, instead focusing on boarding the Champions League train to take them into the new campaign.
This has been a disastrous year for the Premier League champions, and no mistake. But when it rains, it pours, and the Achilles rupture that Hugo Ekitike suffered against PSG sadly hammers that point home.
|
Liverpool’s Top Scorers (2025/26) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Player |
Apps |
Goals |
|
Hugo Ekitike |
45 |
17 |
|
Dominik Szoboszlai |
47 |
12 |
|
Mohamed Salah |
37 |
11 |
|
Cody Gakpo |
46 |
8 |
|
Florian Wirtz |
44 |
6 |
Ekitike, 23, has been one of Liverpool’s star players this season, the top scorer with 17 goals. He joined from Eintracht Frankfurt for £79m last summer, but his season has now been cut cruelly short. Not only will he miss the World Cup in North America, but he faces an uphill battle to recover before the end of the calendar year.
How Ekitike injury is changing Liverpool transfer plans
Last year, Liverpool spent big on their frontline, advertising the rebuild as one for the ages, not to be repeated across the coming years of success.
That hasn’t been the case. Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak have both struggled throughout their maiden terms at Anfield, and the 33-year-old Mohamed Salah will leave this summer after his own wretched campaign.
Cody Gakpo has been mooted for a departure, but the under-performing Dutchman cannot leave now that Ekitike is set to be sidelined for so long. This has changed Liverpool’s transfer plans, but they could still move for an upgrade on Gakpo.
While a number of targets have been earmarked, observers may be turned toward Merseyside rival Iliman Ndiaye, who has been Everton’s talisman since joining in 2024.
Ndiaye, 26, is one of the most dangerous and versatile attackers in the Premier League, and according to TEAMtalk, he is firmly on the shortlist as FSG accelerate plans to sign a new winger.
Valued at £75m, Ndiaye is a ready-made Premier League star, and he could be the answer to one of the biggest attacking problems that threatens Liverpool’s revival next year.
Why Iliman Ndiaye could be Liverpool’s new Luis Diaz
Liverpool miss Luis Diaz. Hindsight is a funny old thing, but even when the Colombian was sold to Bayern Munich for £65m, some questioned whether FSG had sold Slot short on the left wing.
He has been immense for Vincent Kompany’s side, direct and deadly but also elegant and effortless when zipping down the channels. Liverpool will not get him back, but in Ndiaye, they could sign the new version.
“One of the best players in the Premier League“, in the view of pundit Jamie O’Hara, Ndiaye has scored 17 goals and supplied four assists in nearly two years as a blue, but his impact far outstretches simply numbers on a scoring char.
There is a combativeness to Ndiaye’s game that few players achieve. Diaz rivals him in that regard, but you could argue that Ndiaye has the base potential to become an even better Premier League player.
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Premier League Comparison – Diaz vs Ndiaye |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stats (* per 90) |
Diaz (24/25) |
Ndiaye (25/26) |
|
Matches (starts) |
36 (28) |
26 (26) |
|
Goals |
13 |
6 |
|
Assists |
5 |
3 |
|
Touches* |
36.5 |
50.5 |
|
Shots (on target)* |
2.0 (0.8) |
1.2 (0.7) |
|
Accurate passes* |
19.8 (86%) |
25.5 (84%) |
|
Big chances created |
8 |
6 |
|
Key passes* |
1.6 |
1.0 |
|
Dribbles* |
1.5 (51%) |
2.1 (53%) |
|
Ball recoveries* |
2.9 |
5.9 |
|
Tackles + interceptions* |
1.3 |
2.8 |
|
Duels (won)* |
3.8 (40%) |
6.0 (46%) |
Ndiaye’s Premier League output might not be as impressive as Diaz’s was in his final term on Merseyside, but he plays for an Everton side who have had to work to find positive attacking play under David Moyes, and he has been hailed for having “magic in his boots” by Everton writer Lyndon Lloyd. He is also as combative as they come, a hard and efficient worker.
It’s also worth noting that Ndiaye is a clinical finisher. He might not score all that many, but the 26-year-old knows how to find the top corner, and his arrival could negate one of Liverpool’s biggest issues in that regard.
Ndiaye isn’t an out-and-out striker, but with Isak on the way back to full fitness, this could be the perfect way to combat the Ekitike injury while widening Liverpool’s attacking scope and dynamism.
Whether Liverpool could actually convince their bitter rivals to hand them their star player is one thing. Any deal would surely come at a premium. But the Reds have got their sights fixed on Ndiaye, a winger who has the potential to emulate Diaz at Anfield and maybe even outstrip him.
Liverpool accelerating move to sign dream Ekitike replacement in £75m deal
Liverpool have set their sights on a new attacker after Hugo Ekitike’s injury.