Andoni Iraola still wants to work with Alex Scott again. He is also now working on what to do if Liverpool cannot afford him.
The transfer committee led by sporting director Julian Ward has compiled dossiers on two midfield alternatives, according to TEAMtalk: AS Roma’s Manu Kone, priced at £65-75m, and Monaco’s Lamine Camara, available for around £47m. Scott, Iraola’s old Bournemouth midfielder, remains the first choice, but Bournemouth are holding firm on a £100m valuation.
Kone is the more expensive of the two backups, and the one Liverpool are said to rate most. The 25-year-old France international has scored twice and racked up close to 500 minutes across the opening weeks of the 2026-27 Serie A season under Gian Piero Gasperini at Roma. Last season he produced two goals and three assists in 37 appearances for the Italian club, with more than 2,500 minutes played.
Scott out for four or five weeks
Scott, 23, has not kicked a ball for Bournemouth since limping off on England duty.
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The midfielder picked up a muscle injury in a 7-0 win over Croatia and withdrew from the England squad shortly afterwards. Bournemouth head coach Marco Rose confirmed the setback on 8 October.
“It’s an injury from a muscle, and we’ll do pictures in some days again,” Rose said.
“But we’re going to miss him, for sure, for four or five weeks. I’m very disappointed and it’s a big loss.”
A follow-up scan was reported to be more positive than feared, with a chance Scott returns sooner than the five-week ceiling.
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Chelsea’s rejected £68m bid
Chelsea had Scott top of their shortlist in the summer, with their highest bid of £68m rejected by Bournemouth. Xabi Alonso’s side are expected to come back in January, and that bidding war is what has pushed Scott out of the comfortable price bracket for Liverpool.
Iraola is the lever Liverpool are counting on. The Basque coach managed Scott at Bournemouth before taking the Anfield job over the summer, with the Cherries’ sixth-place finish and 18-match unbeaten run cited in the club’s own appointment announcement.
If the reunion falls through, Kone’s profile fits what Iraola asks of a central midfielder: a ball-winner with the lungs to cover ground in a high press and the technical range to carry possession out from his own box. Roma, who signed him from Borussia Mönchengladbach a year ago, are not actively looking to sell, and any January deal would carry a premium. It would still land some £25m below the number Bournemouth want for Scott.
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