With the arrival of Milos Kerkez this summer, Liverpool find themselves with three specialist left backs, none of whom have the kind of history of positional flexibility that might allow them to plausibly fill in at other positions. It is, not to put too fine a point on things, one left back too many.
The question all along, then, has been who might make way. Early rumours had long-time key starter Andy Robertson being courted by Atletico Madrid, but no move materialized and by the time the season
kicked off the consensus was that Kostas Tsmikas was the more likely to leave the club.
Leeds and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League have been lightly linked, but either move currently appears a long shot, and there have been suggestions the player would prefer a move to the continent and to play for a club participating in one of the European competitions this season.
There is also a preference amongst all parties that it be a permanent transfer rather than a loan—but if that’s not possible in the end, it could be that Tsimikas would end up returning to Olympiacos on loan before the transfer window slams shut. At least that’s what journalists in Greece are saying.
Liverpool signed Tsimikas from Olympiacos in 2020 for around £12M, and the goal had been to recoup that fee in a potential sale this summer. Olympiacos, though, would struggle to meet even that price. However, having won the Greek league last season, they are competing in Europe.
Tsimikas was on the books as a senior player at Olympiacos for five seasons, though he spent two of those seasons on loan with Esbjerg and Willem II. In his final two years at the club he made 74 appearances before making his move to join the Reds to become an honorary Scouser.
