Liverpool agree contract termination on transfer deadline day

Liverpool’s transfer deadline day has been dominated by the news that the club have sealed an agreement to signed £60 million defender Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes in the summer.

That appears to cross off an area of need for the club, given the fact that Ibrahima Konate is into the final months of his Anfield contract, while Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk will turn 35 this summer.

The mooted deal also fits Liverpool’s recent profile of building a squad for the future by snapping up promising young talents, who they hope will develop and peak under Arne Slot on Merseyside.

Youngster returns to Anfield

But as Jacquet jets in for his Liverpool medical ahead of his summer move, the club have confirmed another move which underlines some of the challenges from going to promising youngster to fully-fledged first-team star.

Towards the end of the summer window, the Reds handed young midfielder James McConnell a new five-year deal as the former Sunderland prospect headed out to Ajax on loan for the 2025/26 campaign.

The 21-year-old joined the Dutch side shortly after former Reds assistant John Heitinga had been appointed head coach and would feature reguarly in the opening weeks of the season, turning out four times in the Eredivisie and in three of the Dutch side’s first four Champions League games this season.

But with Ajax struggling, Heitinga was dismissed as boss in November and McConnell has not featured since.

Ajax have now confirmed that the England under-20 international’s loan spell has been terminated, with the club adding that he ‘has not been part of the Ajax squad since early January’ in their statement announcing the move.

McConnell now returns to Liverpool, for whom he has made three senior appearances and has the chance to have a reset, following this loan spell which has clearly not worked out.

In FourFourTwo’s view, this is the best move for the player, who Tranfermarkt value at €2m.

It is clear that Heitinga’s November exit was a terminal blow to McConnell’s hopes of getting regular first-team minutes under his belt in the Netherlands.

The best next move is likely to be another loan away from Anfield, but one at a smaller club where he is able to get more game time and one where expectations are somewhat more realistic than they are at an iconic side of Ajax’s stature.