Sporting Lisbon midfielder Matheus Nunes would reportedly be open to joining Liverpool this summer, but the £51m release clause in his contract speaks volumes

There was a proviso that “unless something substantially changes” always applied to the transfer window.

In preparation for the upcoming season, Jürgen Klopp and the recruitment team felt they had completed three new signings. The rationale for not adding another midfielder was that the ideal candidate was not available.

In the near term, it was a little bit of a risk, but it has long-term advantages and may very well result in the capture of Jude Bellingham next summer.

It doesn’t sound ideal that after just one game of the new season, that gamble is already beginning to appear even more problematic, with Thiago Alcântara, Curtis Jones, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all out injured and Fabinho and Jordan Henderson having played so poorly at Craven Cottage.

A flurry of transfer rumors involving players who may strengthen the Reds’ ranks followed the revelation that Thiago will be out for at least the remainder of this month and possibly up to six weeks.

justify bringing in a second body.

The funds are available for another acquisition; otherwise, Liverpool would not have made a serious inquiry about Aurélien Tchouaméni, a former AS Monaco midfielder who ultimately decided to join Real Madrid for €100 million (£85 million). But the real question is whether their current options are worrying them enough to justify bringing in another body.

One candidate that has been suggested for a while is Nicol Barella, but he would be very expensive (the Daily Mirror reports that the Reds’ interest is “long-standing”). Bellingham is no longer an option until 2023, and Marcelo Brozovi, who was mentioned by Calciomercato, seems like the wrong kind of player at 29.529.

This week, the Portuguese publication Correio da Manha stated (via Paisley Gates) that the 23-year-old midfielder, who Pep Guardiola dubbed one of the finest in the world last season, would be open to a transfer to either Liverpool or Manchester City.

According to rumors, Nunes turned down Wolves’ “deal of a lifetime” in an effort to sign with a big Premier League team instead. By all accounts, Liverpool could execute the deal if they so desired.

With James Milner, Naby Keta, and Oxlade-contracts Chamberlain’s expiring at the end of the current campaign, acquiring another midfielder this summer would not exclude Bellingham from joining the team the following season.

In a way, there are two questions around the transfer: first, whether Liverpool thinks Nunes’ ceiling is high enough to draw them in. The second is whether they believe their injuries are severe enough to warrant moving for him.

But honestly, if the first question is answered affirmatively and he does have the capacity to enhance the Liverpool midfield group, the second should lose any significance.

The problem, though, is that if he had been thought to be good enough to play for Liverpool, Nunes would probably have have been signed given the players’ expiring contracts next summer and the unreliability of the ones who are still on the roster right now.

Similar to Gini Wijnaldum and Thiago, if Julian Ward and company regarded Nunes as a replacement for Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, or Keta, they would have made plans 12 months in advance of their departure. Liverpool may be happy with their current situation based on the fact that they haven’t done so.