Bournemouth have opened talks with Liverpool over the signature Nat Phillips after the Englishman had a successful loan spell with the south coast club last season.
A permanent departure was expected for the 25-year-old this summer with competition for a centre-back place rife at Liverpool.
However, according to Football Insider, Liverpool could favour loaning out Phillips once again.
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Phillips established gained cult hero status at Liverpool after helping to guide the Anfield club to a third place finish during the 2020/21 season, amid something of a defensive crisis.
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Philips, who came through the Liverpool academy, started 15 games for Liverpool in that campaign, helping to cover for the injured Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez.
However, last season, with the aforementioned duo returning from the treatment table and Ibrahima Konaté and Joel Matip enjoying strong form, Phillips couldn’t get a look in and was then loaned out.
Liverpool’s decision to look to loan him out again rather than sell him is quite a strange one.
The Reds have spent heavily this summer on the likes of Darwin Nuñez, Calvin Ramsay, and Fabio Carvalho, and player sales could do away with some of the debt produced by those moves.
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A fee in the region of £15 million had been touted for Phillips, and Bournemouth were expected to meet that valuation.
Liverpool could be hoping another strong season for Bournemouth, this time in the Premier League, could drive up Phillips’ price tag even further.
After all, the Reds have already brought in roughly £50 million through player sales this summer.
Sadio Mané has moved to Bayern, Takumi Minamino to Monaco, while Marko Grujic has joined Porto permanently after his loan spell with them last season.
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Liverpool aren’t in dire need of the cash that the sale of Phillips would provide.
Phillips’ fellow Championship loanee of last season, Neco Williams, is expected to officially leave Liverpool in the coming days. He’ll join Nottingham Forest in a £15 million deal.
However, Phillips will be given another shot or prove himself in the Premier League with Bournemouth this season, and potentially return to Liverpool to fight for a place the term after.
Topics: Bournemouth, Liverpool, Liverpool Transfer News & Rumours