Liverpool transfer Q&A: Kalvin Phillips interest and other possible summer departures

Liverpool are currently in Germany during their pre-season tour ahead of the new 2022-23 Premier League campaign.

The Reds defeated Karlsruher 4-2 in their opening friendly of the summer before they face Greuther Furth on Monday.

So what’s the latest on the transfer front? We run you through everything you need to know.

Is Romeo Lavia the replacement for Fabinho?

It's a question that plenty have pondered. Lavia has been linked with a move to Liverpool for several weeks and caught the eye in his maiden season playing senior football.

It's hard to see Lavia remaining at Southampton in the Championship. But the potential exit of Fabinho to Al-Ittihad for £40 million has possibly thrown a spanner in the works.

The Reds will need someone who is experienced to screen the defence and slot in seamlessly. Lavia has a high ceiling but with just 29 Premier League appearances to his name, is not accomplished enough in his fledgling career. What's more, a fee of £50 million is significant.

Klopp may have to pay a premium for whoever comes in but he'll want someone with a decent amount of first-team action under his belt. Lavia would have to be an understudy but funds may not allow it.

Is there any chance Levi Colwill leaves Chelsea for Liverpool?

I personally can't see it. Liverpool are admirers and he'd be an excellent signing but it appears that Colwill is a player who Chelsea want to keep.

Granted, his chances at Stamford Bridge have been slim so far. Colwill has had to head out on loan for the past two seasons, excelling at Huddersfield and Brighton.

In Chelsea's defence, how many centre-backs around the age of 20 are playing regularly in the Premier League? Just because he's not made his debut yet scarcely means he's not rated. Quite the opposite, it could be argued.

Chelsea's current centre-back options aren't exactly looking strong. Wesley Fofana is set to be out for a prolonged period with an ACL injury while Benoit Badiashil might miss the start of the season with a hamstring problem. They're then down to 38-year-old Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah as options. There's an opportunity for Colwill and if he takes it, Liverpool's chances of signing the England under-21 international down the line becomes even more difficult.

Would Liverpool realistically look to target Kalvin Phillips?

It's an interesting name that's been mentioned. Had it been two years ago then plenty of fans would have been delighted at the thought of Phillips joining. He'd just helped Leeds secure a ninth-place finish in their first season back in the Premier League for 16 years. Phillips thrived in the high-octane style of play that Marcelo Bielsa deployed and there'd be little question he could adapt to Klopp’s system.

Even last summer, sections of supporters would have also taken him even though Leeds had only just survived relegation. The fact that Manchester City paid £45 million underlined that Pep Guardiola felt the England international had the quality to feature in the best team in the world.

But in a campaign that saw City claim a historic treble, Phillps underwhelmed. He made just four starts and 21 appearances in total, while Guardiola claimed that Phillips came back from the World Cup 'overweight'.

What may also make Liverpool reluctant is they'd be handing City a significant fee. There has been a heated rivalry between the two teams over the past few years and the Reds may not want to give City such substantial funds to reinvest.

You have to go back to the summer of 2017 to the last time Liverpool signed someone from a fellow top-four contender alone. That was when they paid Arsenal a fee of £35 million for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Are any other departures likely to happen after Fabinho and Jordan Henderson?

Klopp would certainly hope no-one from his core group leaves. The Liverpool manager likes the vast majority of his business done before pre-season and the interest from Saudi Arabia has disrupted that. The Reds are now poised to lose two senior midfielders who’ve been at the fulcrum of the success in recent years.

It would take an absoultely ludicrious bid for Luis Diaz, who has attracted interest from Al-Hilal, to depart. He’s heading into the campaign as a key player and Klopp will be relishing having the winger back after missing most of last term because of a knee injury.

Nat Phillips is one player that the Reds could lose. He’s fifth-choice centre-back and could help raise some funds. A £10 million price tag mooted is fair. Caoimhin Kelleher’s future is an interesting one, too. The goalkeeper wants to play but the longer the window goes on, the less likely he’ll depart.