Arne Slot confirms Liverpool transfer U-turn ahead of deadline day

Arne Slot has confirmed Liverpool will likely make a U-turn on the immediate future of midfielder James McConnell.

The 20-year-old was included in the starting lineup as Liverpool lost 3-2 to PSV Eindhoven in their final fixture of the Champions League first phase.

Still, with the Reds having won their seven European games prior to Wednesday's clash, Liverpool finish top of the Champions League table despite their defeat.

Slot made a number of changes to his Reds side ahead of Saturday’s trip to the impressive Bournemouth.

McConnell was among a number of younger players to have been handed a chance to impress and Slot admits the level of his performance could now see him stay on Merseyside rather than head out on loan during what remains of the January transfer window.

“At the moment we have most of our players fit, so we will have this discussion tomorrow, me and [sporting director] Richard [Hughes], about these players,” he said.

“There is definitely one of them that will not go on loan – and I think you know which one I mean. James McConnell. I wouldn’t say definitely, but I liked him a lot today, so maybe now the end result today would be it’d be good for him to go somewhere and play. He was also a player that hasn’t played in the last six or seven months 90 minutes because he was injured for a while. He impressed me a lot today.”