Liverpool fans have been given the chance to vote on a new mural to honor Diogo Jota near Anfield.

Tributes continue to flood in for Jota following his death at the age of 28 last week. The Portuguese star was killed in a car accident with his brother Andre Silva in Spain as he made his way to catch a ferry in order to head back to Liverpool for pre-season training.

The majority of Liverpool’s players were in attendance for their teammate’s funeral in his hometown of Gondomar on Saturday, with Luis Diaz and Alisson Becker attending a service this week after being unable to attend at the weekend.

Players and staff have been adding to the countless tributes left for Jota outside Anfield this week, with Dominik Szoboszlai and new signings Milos Kerkez and Armin Pecsi paying their respects on Thursday, after former midfielder Adam Lallana had earlier paid a visit to his old ground.

Plans are also in place for a new mural to be painted in the area around Liverpool’s ground, adding to the number of lasting legacies dotted around the surrounding area.

Artist Paul Curtis set up a crowdfunder for the mural, which has already met its target, with money going to foundations set up in Jota and his brother’s name.

Tributes have been left for Diogo Jota outside Anfield (Image: 2025 Getty Images)

As part of the project, Curtis gave supporters the chance to vote on the design of the new mural. Two options were offered - one showing Jota celebrating alongside the number 20 he wore at Anfield, with the words to his iconic song also included, along with his brother during his time at Porto, while the other featured the brothers against the backdrop of the Portugal flag.

By the time the poll had closed on X, the first design had narrowly won, with nearly 30,000 votes being cast.

Another mural, bearing the message ‘Forever 20’ has already been set up on Sybil Road near the stadium, with fans adding their own messages to the piece since it was unveiled on Tuesday.

Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan has also opened up on the club’s plans to remember Jota, telling the club’s website: "It is early, it has obviously only been a few days. I think the most important thing in this process is that we want to make sure we are respecting the family.

"As a club, there’s been lots of ideas and certainly within the supporter base lots of ideas. That’s something we’ll take forward with the family and we want to have those conversations at the appropriate time. Obviously they have gone through an unimaginable situation over the course of the last several days.

"We certainly will, obviously, remember both Andre and Diogo, and at the appropriate time, we’ll make those plans clear. We’ve got the match on Sunday at Deepdale and we’ll of course remember them at that match.

"Then the tour, then we come back to Anfield and then the season starts, so we’re thinking about all of those moments. Of course, we want to make sure we do the right thing and appropriately remember both Andre and Diogo."

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Liverpool has agreed a deal with Arsenal for the sale of Olivia Smith, with the forward set to become the most expensive player in the history of women’s football.

The 20-year-old is set to make the move to north London, and in the process become the first ever player to break the £1 million (around $1.36 million) barrier. According to The Guardian, Liverpool has accepted the world-record offer from its Women’s Super League rival.

Smith joined Liverpool just 12 months ago in a £200,000 ($271,000) transfer from Portuguese club Sporting in what was a club-record fee. The Canadian star still had multiple years remaining on her contract on Merseyside, with Arsenal paying a huge sum in order to secure her services.

The fee is said to exceed the $1.1M deal Chelsea reached with San Diego Wave to sign USWNT defender Naomi Girma back in January, which set a new world record at the time.

Smith scored seven times in 20 WSL appearances during her sole season with Liverpool as the Reds finished seventh.

Olivia Smith scored seven WSL goals for Liverpool in her debut season at the club

Liverpool is said to have initially rejected several offers for Smith, who will now move to Arsenal for five times the amount the Reds paid for her last year.

The news comes as Liverpool looks to be closing in on a new manager for the Women’s team, with former Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor in talks with the club.

The Reds have been without a manager since Matt Beard was fired back in February, with former assistant Amber Whiteley having been placed in interim charge.

Gareth Taylor looks set to become the new Liverpool Women's manager

Taylor himself was fired by City just five days before before the Women’s League Cup final, having won two major honors since being appointed as manager in 2020.

Taylor also previously worked with City’s academy, where he managed new Liverpool men’s signing Jeremie Frimpong as a youth player.

Smith’s move to Arsenal will be the third time in just over a year that the world record has been broken for a transfer in women’s football.

Before Girma’s move to Chelsea, Zambia international Racheal Kundananji previously held the record, having made the move to San Francisco side Bay FC from Madrid CFF for a reported $860,000 in February 2024.

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Jeremie Frimpong could be joined by another familiar face at Liverpool this summer, with the club in talks over a new coaching appointment.

Frimpong is of course one of five new signings made this summer by the Reds, along with Florian Wirtz, Milos Kerkez, and goalkeepers Armin Pecsi and Freddie Woodman. Giorgi Mamardashvili also joins up with his new club for the first time, having secured a deal last year to join from Valencia.

Liverpool struck two deals with Bayer Leverkusen to secure the signings of Frimpong and Wirtz, who will continue their close friendship at Anfield after spending time on holiday together this summer. The Leverkusen connection didn’t end there, with Jarell Quansah then making the move to the German side shortly afterward.

Now, it looks as though Frimpong could be joined by another face that will be very familiar to him - albeit one that is a little closer to home for Liverpool.

According to various outlets, including BBC Sport, Liverpool has been in talks with former Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor to take over the Reds’ Women’s team.

Liverpool has been without a manager since Matt Beard was fired back in February, but could now be closing in on his replacement, with Taylor the leading candidate for the role.

Liverpool has held talks with Gareth Taylor over becoming the Women's team's new manager

Taylor himself was fired by City shortly after Beard’s exit, having been relieved of his duties five days before the Women’s League Cup final.

Liverpool has been in talks with Taylor in order to reach an agreement on personal terms, with the 52-year-old having previously worked closely with Frimpong.

During his time at City, Taylor also worked with the club’s academy, with Frimpong one of the stars of his U18s team. During their time working together, City reached the FA Youth Cup final in 2019, where they were beaten by Liverpool in a penalty shootout.

Gareth Taylor previously worked with Manchester City's academy, where he worked closely with Jeremie Frimpong as a youth player (Image: Getty Images)

After taking over as manager of City’s Women’s team in 2020, Taylor would lead the side to two major honors, while also narrowly missing out on the Women’s Super League title in 2024 on just goal difference to Chelsea.

His time at the club though was divisive, with several players speaking out publicly about their experiences with him during his time in charge, including goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck who described her relationship with Taylor as “fractured”.

Nevertheless, Liverpool now looks to be closing in on appointing Taylor, with the club looking to build upon last season’s seventh-place finish in the WSL.

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Liverpool is one of several Premier League clubs being linked with a move for exciting young Parma defender Giovanni Leoni, who has been likened to Dean Huijsen.

The Reds are in the market for a new center-back in the summer transfer window, after Jarell Quansah completed his move to Bayer Leverkusen last week. Quansah's exit leaves Liverpool with just three senior center-backs in the squad, in Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate.

Van Dijk is tied to Liverpool until 2027 after signing a two-year extension towards the end of the season, but Konate's future is up in the air as his contract is due to expire next summer, and Gomez is coming off the back of a hamstring injury that ended his 2024-25 season in February.

The uncertainty in the center-back position will send Liverpool into the market this summer, and Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi continues to be heavily linked with a move to Anfield.

Liverpool was heavily linked with Huijsen, prior to his move to Real Madrid, which came about after the Spanish giant triggered his release clause.

Instead, Liverpool has already made moves for defenders Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez, as well as the blockbuster move for Florian Wirtz.

But another defender who the Reds are being linked with, who could be one for the future, is 18-year-old Leoni, who made 17 appearances in Serie A last season.

Leoni only joined Parma from Sampdoria last year, but his promising performances for the Serie A side have prompted speculation that he could already be on his way to a bigger club.

Rousing the Kop reports that Leoni is "on Liverpool's radar," while TBR Football says Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle and Bournemouth are also keen on the teenager, as are Serie A sides Internazionale, AC Milan and Juventus.

Leoni has been likened to Dean Huijsen (Image: 2025 Visionhaus)

"They (Liverpool) have seen him and have been impressed by him,” Rousing the Kop journalist Graeme Bailey said.

“But he’s got an awful lot of interest. There’s a lot of Premier League clubs who like this boy an awful lot.”

“I spoke to a few Italian sources while doing work on Suzuki, the goalkeeper, and my contacts were saying ‘the one at Parma who’s really getting interest and could move is Leoni.’

"Clubs are looking at him as being a Huijsen-esque type defender, and Liverpool have watched him.

“I’m told that Parma want to keep him this summer. So whether he’s do-able, I’m not entirely convinced. From what I’m hearing he’s also not the sort of person who’d want to sit on the bench for a season, I think he’d rather stay at Parma for another year and play.”

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Hugo Ekitike has been linked with a multitude of clubs during this summer's transfer window, and the latest is Newcastle United.

Reports suggest that Newcastle is "keen" on the 22-year-old, who scored 15 goals in 33 appearances in the Bundesliga last season. Considering the amount of clubs that have been linked with Ekitike, a lot will still need to happen for him to end up at St. James' Park, but if he does, that could spell good news for Liverpool regarding its interest in Alexander Isak.

Ekitike is a player not too dissimilar to Isak, and Newcastle's apparent interest in him could suggest that the Magpies are planning for life without Isak in the long term.

Isak would be Liverpool's dream striker signing, but Newcastle is under no pressure to sell him after addressing its PSR issues last year and also qualifying for the upcoming season's Champions League.

Liverpool signing Isak feels unlikely this summer — regardless of what happens with Ekitike — but if the Frenchman were to move to Newcastle, it could set the Reds up to do a deal for Isak down the line.

Frankfurt, meanwhile, looks to be planning for life without Ekitike, after signing Jonathan Burkardt from fellow Bundesliga outfit Mainz earlier this week.

Burkardt, 24, scored 19 goals in 30 appearances in all competitions for Mainz last season, with 18 of those strikes coming in the league, making him the fourth-highest scorer behind Harry Kane, Patrik Schick and Serhou Guirassy.

Transfer expert Ben Jacobs recently told Betway that Liverpool itself is among the clubs that are worth keeping an eye on with respect to a potential bid for Ekitike.

"Chelsea and Liverpool are the two in particular to watch," he said. "Arsenal are still focused on seeing if they can get either Viktor Gyokeres or Benjamin Sesko over the line.

Alexander Isak would be Liverpool's dream striker signing (Image: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)

"Manchester United simply don't have the finances or the desire to do Hugo Ekitike at €100 million ($117 million) and probably not at €80 million ($94 million) or €85 million ($100 million) if the actual valuation diminishes.

"Amidst all of the noise, Liverpool are just keeping quiet as they always do and moving discreetly. They're not getting sucked in now to any kind of offers or bidding war, and that's partially because they're still trying to understand if it’s worth having a punt at Alexander Isak.

"And once they get clarity on that in perhaps early or mid-July, they may have to move on to another target, and should they not get Isak, Liverpool are still the ones to watch for Hugo Ekitike, and my expectation is that they will be in the race for the Frankfurt striker if that asking price for €100 million drops."

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Liverpool has begun to prepare for next season by starting preseason training this week and on Sunday will face Preston North End in its opening friendly of the summer.

Amid the heartbreaking news about Diogo Jota, there is still plenty of healing to be done. But the work to ensure that the team is as ready as possible for the new campaign also has to continue.

Amid it all, one Liverpool player is continually being linked with a transfer away from Anfield: Luis Diaz. It is a curious case given the Reds don't want to lose him — and that stance is unlikely to be tested after Bayern Munich laid out its current stance.

According to BILD, Bayern Munich is very keen to sign Diaz from Liverpool— with the player supposedly open to the move — but would only be willing to pay $69 million (£51 million) for his services.

Having been rejected by Florian Wirtz and Nico Williams already this summer, among others, the Bundesliga champion is in need of an alternative. But it is not desperate enough, it seems, to be willing to put down a statement sum of money.

To put the supposed valuation of Diaz into context, Anthony Elanga is heading to Newcastle United for a fee of around $75 million (£55 million), and Spurs are set to purchase Mohammed Kudus for a similar fee. Meanwhile, Chelsea has already signed Joao Pedro for that sort of amount with an agreement that could reach $82 million (£60 million) including add-ons.

Luis Diaz and Arne Slot after Liverpool 2-0 Real Madrid in the Champions League. (Image: Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport via Getty Images)

Already this summer, both Bayern Munich and Barcelona have been told that Diaz is not for sale. And if that is the ceiling that the German outfit is prepared to go to for the Colombian, then that position is extremely unlikely to change.

In addition to Diaz being worth way in excess of that sort of sum in the current market, that the likes of Elanga and Pedro are moving for more than Bayern is willing to spend shows how tough it would be for Liverpool to sign a replacement — especially given the other work that needs doing.

Diaz performed well for Arne Slot last season, scoring 17 goals in 50 appearances in all competitions. He played as a number nine for much of the campaign, though he also impressed off the left flank. As a result, finding an upgrade will be costly.

"We’re there, negotiating," Diaz told the Colombian influencer Mauricio Gomez this week. "We’ll see what can be achieved, for us and for the club. We’ll try to do our best and make the best decision.

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"We’re in the process of negotiations, talking with the club, with Liverpool, with everyone who’s approaching us. But I’m very calm where I am, you know, very happy. Trying to make the best decision now."

Given Barcelona's economic situation, the Catalan side is unlikely to be able to push that hard for Diaz even if that move would be appealing. And at 28, it seems highly unlikely that the former FC Porto star would have any interest in moving to the Saudi Pro League right now.

If the limit of Bayern Munich's interest is short of $70M, then there seems to be an obvious answer when it comes to Diaz's future. If nothing else, Liverpool couldn't even replace him with five-goal Kudus or six-goal Elanga for that — leaving only one obvious outcome.

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