The quiet half of a rebuild: Liverpool’s exit list starts to take shape
Every new head coach arrives talking about philosophy. Pressing triggers, control in possession, a recognisable identity. The less glamorous part of the job is working out which players in the building can actually deliver that vision, and which ones cannot. Andoni Iraola has only been in charge for a short spell, yet it already feels as though some of those calls have been made.
Liverpool journalist David Lynch has used his YouTube channel to outline five players whose prospects look poor under the new regime: Kostas Tsimikas, Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo, Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott. Reading through his reasoning, we found very little to argue with.
Iraola’s football asks a lot. He wants intensity without the ball, aggression in the press, clear and quick decisions in possession, and players he can trust physically and tactically over a long season. Fall short on too many of those, and reputation will not protect you.
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Some will call that cold. We would call it necessary. This club has lived through a lot in a short space of time: the end of one great era, a Premier League title in Arne Slot’s first season in 2024/25, a painful slump in 2025/26 that cost him his job, and now another reset. There is simply no space left in the squad for passengers or players who only contribute now and then.
Three contracts that are winding down
The simplest decisions concern the players whose deals are close to running out. According to Lynch, Tsimikas, Gomez and Endo are all on course to leave without being offered new terms. None of that would be a surprise. If anything, it would be the club behaving sensibly.
Tsimikas first. Lynch believes Liverpool are content to let his contract lapse at the end of the season, and that matches what we have seen. The Greek has been a reliable squad option and a popular figure in the dressing room, but useful back-up and long-term starter are two very different things. Liverpool have pushed this decision down the road before. They cannot keep doing it.
Gomez is the one that tugs at the heart. He has been at the club for a long time, and when fully fit he has shown genuine class at centre-back and full-back alike. The problem is the fitness part. Lynch argued that the defender’s availability in recent seasons makes an extension impossible to justify, with his current deal set to expire in 2027. Painful as that is to accept, recruitment departments cannot hand out new contracts based on fond memories.
Endo looks the most clear-cut of all. Lynch expects the Japan international to move on at the end of the campaign, four years after he first arrived. He was a sensible short-term signing at the time and has always been a model professional, but he was never truly central before and he is not central now. When that is the case, the ending usually writes itself.
Chiesa and Elliott: unfinished stories
The more interesting conversation surrounds Chiesa and Elliott. Both have deals that run to 2028, and both feel like stories that never quite reached the chapter Liverpool hoped for.
Chiesa has never properly settled on Merseyside. Injuries have been a big part of that, but fitness alone does not explain why he has struggled to nail down a role. Iraola appears to demand repeatable, precise work from his wide players, and if there is doubt over whether someone can produce that consistently, the club will not wait around. Lynch’s assessment was blunt. In his view, Liverpool would have sold the Italian last summer if a buyer had come forward, and they will do so next summer given the chance. That is not idle speculation. It suggests the club already sees a sale as the better outcome than persevering.
Elliott is a different case altogether. Nobody has ever doubted his ability. He is brave on the ball, technically gifted and has produced some lovely moments in a red shirt. But ability has to fit a system, and this is where things get uncomfortable. If there is no obvious slot for him in Iraola’s set-up, the discussion inevitably shifts from potential to timing and value. Lynch said the key question is what happens once Elliott returns from his loan at Valencia, suggesting another temporary move to see out his deal is possible, and made clear that a fresh contract is not on the table.
A rebuild is about subtraction too
Supporters naturally get more excited about who is coming in than who is heading out. Yet a proper rebuild is just as much about clearing space as it is about making signings. Clubs often drag these processes out because familiarity feels safe. Liverpool are not in a position to do that any more.
The early numbers under Iraola are neither alarming nor spectacular. He has collected 18 points from his opening ten league fixtures, exactly what Slot managed across the same stretch last season. That does not prove progress, and it does not prove regression either. The more meaningful test is whether the team starts to look like a coherent unit with a clear plan, and part of building that is deciding who belongs and who does not.
The headline contract talk will always centre on Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk, because elite players attract attention. But the quieter decisions often reveal more about how a club is really planning. If Liverpool let Tsimikas, Gomez and Endo walk, and actively seek solutions for Chiesa and Elliott, it will be a strong signal that Iraola holds genuine authority and that the reset is real rather than cosmetic.
Trimming a squad is never pretty. It comes with noise, emotion and the occasional regret. But if Liverpool want to build their next great side, these choices need to be made early, decisively and without fuss.
Where we stand
It is not easy reading a list like this. Several of these players have given Liverpool honest service, some of them for many years, and all of them have produced moments we will remember fondly. But nostalgia is not a squad-building strategy. This club has suffered before from hanging on too long, waiting for form to return, for injuries to clear, or for a role to suddenly appear.
If Iraola has looked at this group and decided certain players do not suit what he wants, our view is simple: back him, fully. No polite extensions, no half measures, no keeping people around because it feels kinder. Liverpool need a squad built for the manager in charge, not a collection of leftovers from three different eras.
Elliott is the hardest one to let go, because so many of us hoped he would grow into a major figure at Anfield. He has the courage and the quality. But if the coach cannot see where he fits, forcing it helps nobody, least of all the player. Chiesa’s time looks up. Endo’s too. Tsimikas leaving feels inevitable. Gomez will sting, because at his best he has been superb, but football rarely rewards sentiment.
The real question is what comes next. If these departures open the door to smarter recruitment, younger legs and players who can execute the plan week in, week out, then they will be worth the pain. What Liverpool need above all right now is clarity, and the courage to stop looking over their shoulder.
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