Liverpool Confidential: The fact about Richard Hughes exit rumours REVEALED as Al Hilal make stance clear, what sources are saying about Mo Salah’s future, twist in Joshua Abe switch saga and replace on Alexander Isak’s health

It was this week last year when Liverpool Confidential reported that a ‘big summer’ was to be expected off the pitch.

We wrote that four to five first-team signings were incoming in a transformative transfer window – but that bold prediction was still underselling it and no one, maybe not even Liverpool’s top brass, foresaw the £450million splash-out that was to follow.

Twelve months on, another busy window should be expected. This time, though, it is more out of necessity. Call it the summer of uncertainty.

Wednesday night saw the best win of Liverpool’s season, and one that has eased the pressure on their manager and star player. Their Champions League campaign, and whether they are back in it next year, will have a huge impact on summer planning.

Here is a list of key figures with unclear futures: Arne Slot, Richard Hughes, Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konate, Andy Robertson. That’s the head coach, sporting director, best player of the last decade, key defender and vice-captain.

That is not to mention that skipper Virgil van Dijk turns 35 in July and Alisson will be entering the final year of his deal. Fringe players like Joe Gomez and Curtis Jones may not have played as much as they will have liked and Federico Chiesa will almost certainly depart.

Hughes, the recruitment chief, has been linked with Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal this week. Those rumours are not new, it must be said. Liverpool insist they have received no direct contact but the Gulf club have registered their interest with the Scot.

Why wouldn’t they? Despite what revisionist Reds fans may think now, they were all lauding him six months ago. Tempting Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak to join in the same window, plus snatching Hugo Ekitike away from domestic rivals, should not be underestimated.

Hughes delivered the window that many Liverpool fans craved – save for maybe defensive depth and an extra wide man – and it was then up to Slot to make that squad gel.

Confidential has been told the Saudis are confident they can tempt Hughes to join. Simone Inzaghi is their manager and Hughes is fluent in Italian. Many in Saudi believe he will soon be their man, though others back in Britain dispute this and say he is fully focused on Liverpool.

The Saudis are also hot on Salah, as we have known for some time. Sources in Egypt this week suggested the forward had still not made a final decision on where he sees his mid-term future.

A lot may depend on the next six weeks but people are quick to forget the severity of Salah’s comments about Slot in early December. Surely that must still be in the Egyptian’s mind, even if both parties insist all is fine and well.

It feels like Liverpool already need a bit of pace in their attack but will two forwards be needed if Salah opts to depart, to Saudi or elsewhere? Will they need a left back to replace long-serving Robertson?

How about defenders if Konate does not renew his deal? Gomez is another who may be weighing up his options, as he did last summer. Will incoming Rennes centre back Jeremy Jacquet be enough in terms of defensive reinforcements?

These are all questions that must be solved in the coming months. Predictions were that this would be a quiet window after a busy time last year – but this is a summer of uncertainty and Liverpool may have no choice but to be busy.

Chelsea out of Abe chase?

With my Liverpool cap on, my first thought when I saw the news about Chelsea being handed an academy transfer ban this week was about Reds prospect Joshua Abe.

As we have reported extensively in this column over the last year, the 15-year-old is a target of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City.

He also was shown round Real Madrid’s Bernabeu and has signed up with the PLG Agency of Tyler Alexander-Arnold, the brother of Trent.

Chelsea are currently out of that race because of their ban, however, which is a big help for Liverpool’s case to keep him, though others still loom large.

The talented youngster had successful surgery this week and will miss the rest of the season. Before that, he had been training with the first team. Some say that is part of the Reds’ charm offensive to keep him and show there is a pathway, others will insist it is simply because he is good enough to do so. Both might be true.

Slot and players were classy in parade aftermath

There was a story on Channel 5 News this week where victims of the Liverpool victory parade attack last May called out the club for a lack of support in the time that has followed.

Two people quoted said Liverpool had not reached out enough and that they would have expected more.

But the club had several defences, most notably that they were not allowed to contact victims directly, they had to go via Merseyside Police who provided details of those who were hospitalised.

The hospitals and the police gave the club around 30 names with the most severe injuries and Liverpool contacted those individually in the weeks after. It is also understood Slot wrote to them individually and some players held video calls with the younger victims. The club published information on how victims could get extra support.

So while it is not unfair for those fans to feel aggrieved at a lack of support, it should also be put on record how the club came together to help the community – not for the first time.

Nothing doing in Dublin friendly

One rumour that went around this week was that Liverpool were to play Arsenal in a pre-season friendly in Dublin. It is understood there are no current plans for that event.

The Reds will travel to the United States for games in Nashville, New York City and Chicago – as revealed in this column six weeks ago – and then will probably cap off pre-season with a couple of domestic friendlies, but these are yet to be confirmed.

Given the World Cup, the American tour may not be star-studded if the Liverpool players go far.

Danns’ rotten luck

Liverpool are hopeful young striker Jayden Danns has not suffered a serious setback after limping off during their 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Monday night.

The forward, who has had rotten luck in the last 18 months with injuries, felt some discomfort in his hamstring in the Premier League 2 fixture.

Boss Rob Page said: ‘It was probably precautionary as well. He’s felt something, to what extent, we don’t know, but I think he’s done the sensible and right thing to do. He could have played on for the first half.’

Given the long-term injury to Isak, Danns would have almost certainly had some first-team minutes if he was fit. It is a shame.

AI revolution won’t be instant

Speaking of Isak, the Swede is on the comeback trail and has been running on grass this week at the AXA Training Centre.

That is a huge step in the right direction given that only a month or so ago, he was on a wheeled crutch. But caution must be advised: though it is believed Isak is hopeful of being back in the first weeks of April, it is not like he is going to be straight back into the XI.

Liverpool have been in dialogue with Sweden boss Graham Potter ahead of their World Cup play-off against Ukraine next week and, should they qualify, Isak will be the key man. In a Liverpool shirt, though, it might be the start of next season before we see a fully fit and firing Isak.

How were so many Galatasaray fans at Anfield?

I must admit when I was walking from the car to my entrance at Anfield, I heard a large amount of Turkish voices and thought Galatasaray fans had managed to get tickets in the home end en masse.

I was later sent videos of hundreds of them in the Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand, which was weird considering away fans were banned. But those 200 fans were VIPs, which is customary in UEFA fixtures. The home club always gives out this number of tickets to the away team, usually for family, friends, club staff etc.

It just happened that these 200 fans were louder than usual — though they did nothing wrong other than create a good noise, in their defence.