Liverpool are believed to be battling two of their rivals for the signing of an influential Premier League player in the summer transfer window.

Slot explains subs after dramatic Liverpool win

The Reds started their title defence with a late 4-2 win at home to Bournemouth on Friday evening, but they weren’t always entirely convincing at Anfield. Arne Slot’s substitutions didn’t work too well, allowing the Cherries to score twice and make it 2-2, but Liverpool’s head coach has now explained his reasoning behind the changes.

“Jeremie felt his hamstring a little bit so that’s a risk – especially if the other full-back Conor Bradley is already out with an injury. With Joe Gomez only training twice, I didn’t feel he could already play half [an hour] in this intensity, so I started off with Wata [Endo] in that position, knowing that I could always bring Joe maybe later on for 10, 15, 20 minutes.

“Milos Kerkez plays every duel as if his life depends on it, which is a great quality, but if you play against such a good winger like [Antoine] Semenyo when you’re already on one yellow card, it’s a risk – especially knowing that we have [Andy] Robertson as well, so that’s explained in that sense.

“Hugo Ekitike came later in pre-season, comes from a good team but I don’t think you can compare that with Liverpool and you can’t compare the league. So for him to already be able to play 70 is a big, big, big bonus for us – but 90 is a risk.

“The other substitution was Macca, who has been out for two, two-and-a-half months [and] only in training for two-and-a-half weeks, so not able to play 90 yet. And the other one was Florian in the end, that was simply because I wanted to bring a No.9 in because we were 2-2.”

It was clear that some new signings are being managed carefully by Slot but perhaps there is a need for more defensive depth at Anfield…

Liverpool battling to sign Premier League captain

According to The Daily Mail, Liverpool are “targeting a move” for Brentford captain Nathan Collins, potentially seeing him as an alternative to Crystal Palace ace Marc Guehi. The 24-year-old is also wanted by Manchester United and Tottenham, with interest in him “surging” as the transfer window nears its conclusion.

Collins has been linked with a move to Liverpool already this summer, with the Reds reportedly entering the race for him, and he could be a strong squad addition for Slot.

He is now a proven Premier League player, appearing 116 times in the competition and at 24, he is already a top-flight captain. Meanwhile, Thomas Frank has hailed his concentration levels, comparing that attribute to something that the “best players in the world” have in their armoury.

Much will depend on whether Liverpool end up signing Guehi or not, but if they fail to bring in the Palace man, Collins looks like a good alternative.