Good evening, Liverpool fans. Here are your evening headlines for Sunday, August 16.
Truth over Coutinho fee confirmed
It's been two-and-a-half years since Liverpool sold Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona in a deal which could reach to £142million.
The Brazilian playmaker left Anfield in January 2018 for an astonishing price, but the Reds are yet to receive the full fee for Coutinho with £4.4million still to be paid.
An initial £106million was handed over to the Reds and an additional £36million has since paid in various appearance-based and Champions League-focused add-ons.
The ECHO understands that the final sum will be given to Liverpool once Coutinho makes a total of 90 appearances for the Catalan giants as a result of the £4.4million paid per 15 appearances.
But given that Coutinho is on loan at Bayern Munich, who coincidentally eliminated Barcelona from the Champions League earlier this week, the Reds are not due to receive that money any time soon.
Shaqiri: I’m trying to give my best
Xherdan Shaqiri believes he has plenty to offer Jurgen Klopp’s side during the 2020/21 Premier League season.
The Swiss international has been linked with various moves away from Anfield this summer but his latest comments suggest he wants to reset his career at the club.
Following limited game time and injury issues, Shaqiri has outlined his plans to make an impact for Liverpool next season .
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He told the club’s official website: “Always if you are injured or if you are not playing, you're frustrated.
“But I'm looking forward to this season and trying to help the team all the time, so I have the chance to play like the first season.
"As a team, I just want us to achieve a lot of things. I think we have a lot of good players in our team, everyone can play and we try to make it very difficult for the coach as always.
"I'm trying to give my best too and to help the team to win games, titles – that's the most important thing for me."
Milner makes 2020/21 prediction
James Milner thinks Liverpool will have a target on their backs next season due to their status as reigning Premier League champions.
After a 30-year wait for the top-flight title to return to Anfield, Milner feels rival Premier League teams will view defeating them as a major scalp next season.
During the club’s pre-season training in Austria, the midfielder spoke to Liverpoolfc.com of the challenges going into the new campaign.
He said: "This is the start again of an even tougher season. I think how good we've been over the last two seasons has been incredible, but if we stay at that same level it won't be good enough.
"Everyone else is pushing, everyone is improving and we have a target on our backs and they're going to want to knock us off the top. So it's down to us to keep improving, keep pushing.
"You see the mentality of the squad and the hunger and the togetherness, I don't think that'll be a problem. But it's down to us to prove that."
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