As Liverpool's preseason has begun, the rumour mill has run fairly dry at the beginning of July. The summer transfer window opened near the end of June, but the deadline for most international transfers opened on July 1st. However, links to players still persist and in one case, Liverpool look close to securing a highly-rated academy player.
Liverpool linked to UCL finalist while deal for Chelsea wonderkid is in the works
Sky German journalist Patrick Berger reports that Liverpool is among a host of teams interested in Borussia Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi, although formal interest has not risen for now. Berger elaborates that Dortmund are prepared to sell Adeyemi if a suitable offer were to come in, and the German striker is in the process of finding a new agency after moving away from his previous agent.
By all accounts, Adeyemi had a poor season with Dortmund despite the German giants reaching the Champions League final. Even in that final, Adeyemi missed multiple big chances to take the lead for Dortmund, which perfectly encapsulates his time so far in the Bundesliga. Adeyemi's stocks were at an all-time high when he left Salzburg in 2022, but he has yet to "kick on" with Borussia Dortmund.
Liverpool will surely view Adeyemi as a left-winger over a striker, given the Reds currently are not in the picture to sign a centre-forward. However, Adeyemi's struggles offensively have mostly come when he has played out wide, compared to his ability to find the goal when being the main striker in a side.
Liverpool are also in advanced negotiations to sign Chelsea wonderkid Rio Ngumoha, who has rejected a new contract with Chelsea. The 2008-born attacker is expected to a record-breaking scholarship with Liverpool and is expected to be a regular feature with the Liverpool U18s next season despite only being 16 by the time the season begins.
Ngumoha has already trained with the Chelsea first team at 15 and played for the Chelsea U21s, which is not exactly an easy team to get into. Of course, Nguhoma is one to watch for the future, and any pressure on the kid to be anywhere near the first team anytime soon would be ridiculous. Ngumoha has played for England at the U15 and U16 levels to date.