Liverpool confirm 29-man pre-season tour squad as attacker left out amid transfer talk

Liverpool have confirmed a 29-man squad for their pre-season tour of Asia, and there is one notable absentee in Arne Slot's ranks.

The Reds make the trip to the Far East having made the perfect start to their summer preparations, easing past both Preston North End and Stoke City in their opening two friendlies.

A 3-1 success over the former preceded a 5-0 thrashing of the Potters in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Sunday, and Liverpool now have five full days to recover before their first match on tour.

The Premier League champions firstly pit their wits against AC Milan in Hong Kong on July 26, four days before travelling to Japan for a clash with Yokohama F. Marinos.

In Sunday's friendly with Stoke, Darwin Nunez struck a first-half hat-trick amid links with a move away, while Federico Chiesa and teenage talent Rio Ngumoha also found the target at the AXA Training Centre.

Chiesa left out of Liverpool pre-season tour squad amid exit talk

However, Chiesa is not among the travelling party for Liverpool's pre-season tour, amid intense speculation that the Italy international could be on the move again this summer.

Chiesa endured a troubled debut season at Anfield following his move from Juventus last summer, only registering two goals and two assists in 14 games as his injury problems reared their ugly heads again.

The 27-year-old would once again play backup to Mohamed Salah should he stay at Liverpool this summer, and a move back to Serie A has been strongly mooted for the Euro 2020 winner.

Chiesa's absence from Liverpool's pre-season tour supposedly has nothing to do with his uncertain future, though; instead, the Italy international is understood to be recovering from a minor fitness issue.

In brighter news, Alexis Mac Allister is on the plane despite his recent muscular injury, which also prevented him from turning out against either Preston or Stoke, while Tyler Morton and Harvey Elliott are also involved following their Under-21 Euros success with England.

Nunez, Luis Diaz and six new signings in Liverpool tour squad

While Chiesa has been omitted, Nunez will fly to the Far East in spite of links with an exit from Liverpool, and fellow South American Luis Diaz has boarded the plane amid talk of a possible move to Bayern Munich.

Slot has also included all six of his new signings, as Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Milos Kerkez, Armin Pecsi and Freddie Woodman prepare for the double-header.

A handful of teenage talents have been summoned too, most notably Ngumoha, Trey Nyoni and Ben Doak, whose own future has been called into question during the past few months.

As well as Alisson Becker, Mamardashvili, Pecsi and Woodman, Liverpool have a fifth goalkeeper in their ranks in the shape of 18-year-old Kornel Misciur, a Scarborough-born Poland youth international.

Liverpool pre-season tour squad:

Goalkeepers: Alisson, Mamardashvili, Woodman, Pecsi, Misciur

Defenders: Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Kostas Tsimikas, Andy Robertson, Kerkez, Conor Bradley, Frimpong

Midfielders: Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Elliott, Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch, Nyoni, Morton, Luca Stephenson

Attackers: Diaz, Nunez, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Wirtz, Doak, Ngumoha

Written by
Ben Knapton