Empire of the Kop - Insider

Jordan Henderson appears set to follow Fabinho out of the door in the coming days, barring any sudden change of heart, following Liverpool’s acceptance of a £12m bid from Al-Ettifaq. As expected, that leaves the club in a rather tricky position having been in need of a third midfield signing anyway had the pair remained at L4. Now, we can perfectly rationalise the prospect of snapping up a further...

Liverpool now find themselves in something of a precarious situation ahead of the reportedly impending exit of No.3 Fabinho to Al-Ittihad. Neil Jones joined Empire of the Kop once again to discuss the implications of such a transfer amongst other topics: * The Liverpool starlets to keep an eye on * What does Fabinho’s exit mean for the pursuit of Romeo Lavia? * … This is a public episode. If you'd...

What a turn this transfer window has taken! Liverpool had been considering a third midfield signing to complement their early double additions of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai - though, now it seems there may be a lot more in the way of business for the club to sink its teeth into following the latest round of reports concerning Jordan Henderson and Fabinho. We at Empire of the Kop ta...

Two signings down and it’s still early July. The second addition to the squad in RB Leipzig’s Hungarian dynamo, Dominik Szoboszlai , joins for a reported £60.4m after Liverpool triggered the midfielder’s pricey release clause. We’re curious to know just what exactly to expect from the signing that seemed to take just about everyone by total surprise, so we got in touch with Liverpool.com’s Hungari...

Liverpool have conducted some impressive business thus far with the signings of Brighton’s Alexis Mac Allister and (if all goes as expected) RB Leipzig’s Dominik Szoboszlai. The question remains, however, as to who the club will go to fill the remaining slot in the middle of the park. The expectation, given the aforementioned names, is that it will be a more deep-lying operator - think Khephren Th...

It’s another episode of the Empire of the Kop Podcast and we’re tackling everything from Bobby Firmino to Dominik Szoboszlai. Sadly, the Brazilian won’t be returning for one last season with the Reds, though we do have the lovely Paul Machin from The Redmen TV to tell us all about their brand spanking new documentary on our former talismanic No.9 and more: * Szoboszlai AND Kehphren Thuram? * The p...

We. Are. BACK! Forget about Jorg Schmadtke’s arrival. We here at Empire of the Kop have been (unofficially) tasked with sorting out a critical summer transfer window for Liverpool Football Club. Alexis Mac Allister is in (cheers Julian Ward) and we’ve decided who will be joining him (and who will be leaving) at Anfield for the 2023/24 season. We had to make some difficult calls - some of which Jur...

The news that Liverpool will sign Alexis Mac Allister for a reported £35m (according to Guardian reporter Fabrizio Romano) shocked both Liverpool and Brighton supporters alike. With a fee upwards of £60m being talked up by a swathe of reliable commentators and outlets, the presumption was that the Reds would be forking out a fair price for the World Cup-winning midfielder. We spoke to Birmingham W...

Liverpool find themselves preparing for arguably their most important test of the season yet ahead of league leaders Arsenal’s impending visit to Anfield. Defeat to Manchester City and yet another disappointing draw with Chelsea mean that if the Reds are to have ANY hope of a top four finish this term, they must achieve what seems impossible and beat the Gunners at L4 this afternoon. Analysing the...

All too often as fans - not to mention commentators and journalists - it can be easy to forget the human side of football. Such is our level of investment in the sport, we can overlook the mental health of those brilliant individuals who provide us with moments of unbridled joy or heartbreak on our weekends and in the midweek. We invited Chris Roberts on the Empire of the Kop podcast to discuss th...

Is there a man better suited to Liverpool - the city and football club - than Jürgen Klopp? The fanatical appreciation for the German tactician, famous in Merseyside for his opening objective of turning fans from ‘doubters to believers’, has thrilled the world with his electric brand of football, stealing the hearts of Liverpool supporters and neutrals in the process. Whilst the Reds may have stum...

It’s become almost boring to say but: Liverpool need a midfielder. Ideally, Liverpool need a midfielder NOW. As we steer ever closer to transfer deadline day, however, it’s becoming increasingly clear that such an addition isn’t on the cards for January, which could have devastating consequences for the remainder of our season. We spoke to Foot Mercato’s Anas Bakhkhar on one option the Reds were s...

Liverpool didn’t claw back the gap between themselves and the top four to the extent that many had hoped as Jürgen Klopp’s men succumbed to another draw with Chelsea in the English top-flight. We were joined by The Anfield Wrap’s Craig Hannan to have a chat about the issues plaguing the club this term and more: * All the latest on the superb Jürgen documentary! * To what extent is the turmoil behi...

FSG… to hate, or not to hate - that is the question. For Sean Stetson, the answer is unequivocally clear after many a year with Fenway Sports Group and ‘creepy’ John Henry holding the reins at Fenway Park. As Liverpool fans, whilst we can acknowledge that the American group has done a great deal of good for the club - saving the club from the clutches of George Gillett and Tom Hicks perhaps prime...

Liverpool fans got the improvement they were hoping for from Jürgen Klopp’s men in their 1-0 win over Wolves. As Paul Machin rightly noted on the Empire of the Kop podcast, it wasn’t quite the ‘vintage’ Liverpool performance we’ve been spoiled with in recent years under the German tactician but a step in the right direction nonetheless. We discussed this topic and more on the latest instalment: *...

Jude Bellingham continues to be tugged every which way as the January transfer window rumbles on. Borussia Dortmund know they’ll have their star man at least until the summer, at which point all hell may very well break loose as European royalty in the form of Liverpool and Real Madrid will compete with financial giants Manchester City for the teenager’s signature. With so much noise being made by...

With the World Cup fast coming to a close, Premier League fans will be drawing a collective sigh of relief as the domestic season nears. There’s no question that the time away from the English top-flight has been mostly good for Liverpool - Luis Diaz’s latest injury setback aside - allowing key men to return from injury, not to mention time for Jürgen Klopp and his coaching staff to regroup and mu...

Two podcasts in two days - two very special guests. Aren’t you all so lucky! After quite a while of radio silence on our front, of course, there’s no question that we owed each and every one of you some top-notch content as we approach the final run of the World Cup and the return of domestic action. Following up on our chat with transfer expert Christian Falk - which you can view here (or in the...

Will Jude Bellingham sign for Liverpool? A question that has been on the lips of every Liverpool supporter for the last few months as speculation has raged on. Christian Falk joined us in the latest instalment of the Empire of the Kop podcast to tell us all about his bombshell update on the Englishman’s future and the Reds’ chances of snapping him up in the summer. We talked all about the 19-year-...

Liverpool may have a lot of work to do to revive their title hopes this term, though back-to-back 1-0 wins against Manchester City and West Ham mark a clear step in the right direction. A third league win in a row against Nottingham Forest would likewise go some way in banishing concerns of the Reds going two steps forwards and a step back in a season defined by damaging inconsistency. Among the s...

Liverpool are BACK! Or are they? A positive performance from Jurgen Klopp’s men would have surely inspired a similar response from much of the fanbase and commentators, yet we have the likes of ex-Chelsea man Chris Sutton coming out telling us that a rude awakening lies in store for the Reds at the Emirates come Sunday. The negativity is understandable to an extent given how topsy-turvy our form h...

Another day, another podcast (partly) discussing Jude Bellingham. The Englishman has been the subject of ongoing speculation amid serious interest from… well... ALL of Europe. There have been suggestions that Liverpool could utilise Naby Keita’s contract situation and Borussia Dortmund’s alleged interest in the Guinean to their advantage in the interest of capturing Bellingham’s highly-coveted sig...

Jude Bellingham will cost quite a pretty penny should an interested party fancy itself to prise the England international away from the Bundesliga in 2023. Liverpool, no doubt, would very much like to be that club, though Borussia Dortmund will need one hell of a rack to keep track of all the hats tossed into the ring for the 19-year-old’s services in a year’s time. You can catch all the discussio...

When dissecting Liverpool’s 4-1 defeat to Napoli in their opening Champions League game, it can be difficult to narrow down the discussion to a few salient points. That’s due in no small part to the reality that the problems are many for the Merseysiders and the solutions are seemingly in short supply. Here at Empire of the Kop, we were joined by the Liverpool Echo’s Keifer MacDonald to revisit th...

“GET A SIGNING IN!” the baying crowd roared. “BRING IN JUDE BELLINGHAM!” they shook their online pitchforks at Michael Edwards protégé, Julian Ward. In a world where social media has become the dominant forum for football fans to shout their opinions down from the rooftops, it can be a difficult place for content producers to share their updates, let alone opinions, on Liverpool Football Club. A l...