‘Influential’ - Roy Hodgson has already named Liverpool’s potential Fabinho replacement

It’s a potential transfer hunt that Jurgen Klopp likely didn’t envisage when Liverpool reassembled for pre-season training.

With the signings of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai secured, the planning for the 2023-24 campaign was underway. The Reds had secured their two chief midfield targets, with options replenished after the departures of James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

A combined fee of £95 million was splashed out on the pair - from Brighton and RB Leipzig respectively. Both arrived to make immediate impacts, although a period of transition - like so many who have previously been recruited under Klopp - was to be expected.

The senior heads were expected to help ease both in. Those in the squad would ensure Mac Allister and Szoboszlai acclimatise. That was the plan, anyway.

Yet Klopp faces now a complete rip-up of his engine room. The great disruptors of the 2023 summer transfer window have indeed jolted Liverpool not once but twice. Fabinho and Jordan Henderson are looking likely to depart Anfield, which will see the Reds lose five seasoned operators in the central zone in one window. Fabinho is in talks over joining Al-Ittihad for £40 million while captain Henderson is edging towards reuniting with Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq for £12 million.

Had both offers landed earlier this summer, it wouldn’t be as much of an annoyance for Klopp. But now a new defensive midfielder has to be sought. There is no other player in the current set-up who can fill the remit of screening the defence. Stefan Bajcetic is the only candidate but aged 18, it would be imprudent to rely on him over a full season.

A senior, battle-hardened replacement is required. Several names have already been linked - including Cheick Doucoure. Crystal Palace are braced for an approach, as per the Daily Mail, and a £70 million price tag has been suggested.

Certainly, that would be a significant outlay for Liverpool to pay - especially given that Doucoure only joined the Eagles a year ago from Lens for a fee of £18 million. In his maiden Premier League campaign, the Mali international recorded three assists in 34 appearances and was crowned Palace’s Player of the Year.

It was Patrick Viera responsible for signing Doucoure yet he remained a key figure after Roy Hodgson returned as manager in March. And the former Liverpool boss was highly impressed with the 23-year-old’s contributions. Speaking to the South London Press in May, Hodgson said: “He has been very influential. He’s one of those players that plays in a position which is a bit of a fulcrum of the attacking midfield play and defending midfield play.

“His positional sense, his ability to read the game, his technical ability, and the fact that he gets around the field so well [makes him influential]. I noticed he’s up there amongst people who’ve made the most interceptions, which is nice to see.”

Throughout the campaign, Doucoure recorded the fourth-most interceptions in the Premier League (56) - ranking above Fabinho and Henderson - as well as the joint-10th tackles won (46). Having spent four seasons at Lens, the ex-Real Bamako youth player also has more than 150 senior games under his belt and has been linked with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in the past.

Whether the Reds make a move remains to be seen. But it’s fathomable to see why he’s under consideration.