A plan for friendlies behind closed doors is revealed, while Liverpool receives a £10 million transfer boost.

Paul Gorst brings you the latest off-season Reds news in his Liverpool Notebook, which features tidbits from around Anfield.

Now that Arne Slot has been at Liverpool for about a week, the players are being worked into condition for the next season.

Wataru Endo and Mohamed Salah will rejoin a group that already included players like Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones, Caoimhin Kelleher, and Kostas Tsimikas this week.

Liverpool is expected to save £10 million.

The abundance of gratitude that poured into Thiago Alcantara’s Instagram account’s comments section made clear how well regarded he was in Liverpool.

Jordan Henderson, Darwin Nunez, Alexis Mac Allister, and other former teammates made sure to congratulate him on what has been one of the most accomplished careers of the twenty-first century, winning nearly thirty major championships for the Reds, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich in addition to the Spain national team.

Particularly Stefan Bajcetic wrote that he would no longer be able to learn from his more seasoned countryman, and Thiago was reportedly a powerful force in the background even though his unavailability made a new contract unfeasible.

Even though the 33-year-old played just five minutes of the season last time out—as a late substitute in a 3-1 loss at Arsenal—fans may eventually recall the more memorable moments from the elegant midfielder’s time with the team, especially the second half of the 2021–2022 campaign, when Jurgen Klopp’s team came the closest to winning a quadruple. They had to’settle’ with 92 Premier League points, two domestic cups, and a runners-up medal in the Champions League.

Even though Thiago will undoubtedly receive accolades and tributes, the club will also profit monetarily from his decision to reject a new contract, especially in light of the player’s injury problems (he hasn’t played for more than five minutes in more than a year and his most recent start came in February 2023).

At almost £200,000 per week, Thiago was among the top paid players in the Liverpool team; the only players thought to make more than the 33-year-old are Mohamed Salah and club captain Virgil van Dijk. The Reds have lots of leeway when it comes to the pay cost when it comes to this summer’s transfer objectives because that kind of weekly outlay and Joel Matip’s specifications are no longer on the books. The savings on annual salary alone will come to about £10m.

Football For Change, led by Alexander-Arnold, donates £300,000 to regional projects.

Trent Alexander-Arnold was a founding member of Football For Change, a social mobility and charitable organisation, which has awarded over £300,000 in awards for its first round of funding in 2024.

Since 2021, Alexander-Arnold has worked with Jamie Carragher, Conor Coady, and public relations executive Dan Hughes to build the charity. As a result, 16 individuals from the Greater Manchester Area and the Liverpool City Region have now benefited from donations donated.

Grants have been granted to young community centres, sports teams, and academies in places including Knowsley, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens, and Liverpool. According to Reds vice captain Alexander-Arnold, Football For Change is adhering to its goal statement, which is to assist communities around the North West.

Alexander-Arnols stated, “The goal of Football For Change is to guide young people towards a positive path.” “Young people from some of the most underprivileged communities in the nation are going to have better life chances and possibilities thanks to the collaboration of business leaders and football players. It’s an excellent endeavour that’s more needed than ever.

Carragher called it a “major moment” and went on to say that the new financing round would enable them to continue changing the lives of young people who are facing obstacles to realising their potential.

“This is another major moment for Football For Change and shows the power of footballers and business leaders coming together to provide opportunities to those who need a bit of help in life.”

Since 2021, FFC has raised about £1.1 million.

Friends behind closed doors Before departing for the US later this month, Liverpool is anticipated to play a few friendly at the AXA Training Centre behind closed doors.

In recent years, Klopp and his staff have preferred locations like Saalfelden in Austria and Evian-les-Bains on the French-Swiss border for the Reds’ summer training camp, which usually involves flying to a European destination.

But no such trip has been planned as of yet, since Liverpool has been hiring a replacement for Ray Haughan as manager of first-team operations in the weeks leading up to Phil Holliday’s appointment.

It appears that Slot will manage his new team in secret at the team’s Kirkby training facility before bringing them to the United States.

The opposition may be from the North-West, since the Reds hosted Blackburn Rovers at Anfield prior to the Premier League’s identical restart in the summer of 2020. A 6-0 victory served as a perfect warm-up for the competition to resume.