Arne Slot warned against signing ex-player who once said ‘Liverpool, no one else’

Arne Slot has been warned that Liverpool’s reported interest in one of his former players makes little sense.

The Reds would have envisaged a quiet January transfer window after a £446million summer spree before injury ravaged their squad.

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Liverpool broke the British transfer record with the £116.5m arrival of Florian Wirtz, and then again when Alexander Isak joined for £125m.

However, the latter will be sidelined for months after undergoing surgery on an ankle injury, which included a fibula fracture.

He is one of several long-term absentees for Liverpool, with Giovanni Leoni suffering an ACL injury on his debut for the club in September.

Conor Bradley became the latest as the right-back was ruled out for the rest of this season with a knee issue sustained against Arsenal.

As a result, Liverpool have been linked with fast-tracking plans for defensive reinforcements, having also seen a deadline day deal for Marc Guehi collapse in August.

Feyenoord star Givairo Read has been reported as one player the Premier League champions are keeping tabs on this month.

Who is Givairo Read?

Liverpool boss Slot signed the 19-year-old in 2023 and handed the teen his debut against Roma in the Europa League knockout round.

Since then, Read has established himself as Feyenoord’s first-choice right-back, with two assists in 12 Eredivisie matches this season.

However, European football expert Andy Brassell believes a proposed switch to Anfield makes little sense, especially in the January window.

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Transfer ‘seems a bit mad to me’

Brassell exclusively told talkSPORT.com: “I think the idea of dropping in a younger player that’s not played in the Premier League… We talked with Viktor Gyökeres about adapting to the Premier League, and he’s a little bit more experienced and has played in England in some form before.

“The idea that Liverpool would do that and just drop him in the deep end mid-season, especially when Jeremie Frimpong‘s still adapting to the Premier League, that seems a bit mad to me, to be honest.

“The obvious thing is just to use Joe Gomez as cover, really.

“Of course, he’s a very different type of right-back, but that’s fine, because Frimpong and Bradley are different types of right-back as well.

“And Feyenoord have had a difficult couple of weeks. There’s a bit of pressure on Robin van Persie for the first time.

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“Ajax are catching them up in the race for a Champions League place, PSV are up, up and away, no-one’s catching them in terms of the title.

“So, to me, it doesn’t make an enormous amount of sense, particularly at this mid-point of the season, unless you think that he’s going to be a long-term solution and you’re going to get rid of one of Bradley and Frimpong, which seems unlikely to me.”

Should Liverpool choose to follow up their interest anyway, Read has already issued a come-and-get-me plea to reunite with Slot.

When asked to pick between Manchester City and Man United as his favourite Premier League team, the Dutchman replied: “Liverpool, for sure! Nothing else, no one else.”