Liverpool confirmed on Friday that 12 players will leave the club, drawing a clean line under its retained-list decision and reshaping the squad as pre-season approaches. The departures include Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate, while eight others have been offered new contracts.
That is why the Liverpool FC released players list is being searched now: the club has moved from speculation to an official call that affects first-team names and academy prospects at the same time. Rhys Williams is also leaving after 15 years at Liverpool, while James Balagizi and Oakley Cannonier are among the younger players on the way out. Balagizi’s exit carries a small reminder of how close some academy players get to the top level; he made the first-team bench twice during Liverpool's domestic cup double in 2022, without getting on the pitch against Shrewsbury or Norwich.
Not every name on the list is headed for the exit. Kyle Kelly, Afolami Onanuga, Oliver O'Connor, Lucas Pitt, Ben Trueman, Matthew Wright, Prince Cisse and Keyrol Figueroa have all been offered new deals, which shows Liverpool are still trying to keep part of the next wave together. The retained-list call matters because it lands just before the summer rebuild begins in earnest, and because the club is sorting out its future with some of the biggest names in the room.
Konate is the sharpest example of that shift. He had hinted after the win over Everton in April that he was close to extending his deal, but Liverpool have now failed to reach agreement with the 27-year-old and he will leave on a free transfer. That sits alongside Robertson’s own exit, with the Scot confirmed as a Tottenham Hotspur player on Friday and due to move to the capital when his contract expires this month. Salah and Robertson were given an emotional farewell at Anfield in the final-day draw with Brentford, and both were brought off by Arne Slot in that match.
There is still one question that now matters more than the headline number: how much of Liverpool’s next pre-season group will come from the academy rather than the first team. Andoni Iraola has already said young players will be given opportunities in pre-season, and Liverpool return next month with a list that shows exactly which prospects the club is ready to back and which ones it has decided to move on from.
