Ahead of the Liverpool vs Man City clash, it has been confirmed Andy Robertson will depart the Reds.
The confirmation that Andy Robertson will leave Liverpool at the end of this season, with Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Tottenham and Celtic among the clubs monitoring his availability, reinforces a picture of a defensive unit that is being comprehensively rebuilt around a different structural model.
Robertson’s departure follows a season in which his role has been gradually reduced as Arne Slot’s system demands different attributes from full-backs — more inverting, more of a carrying role rather than the archetypal overlapping width Robertson provided so reliably under Jurgen Klopp.
He turns 32 in May, and while his quality and leadership remain beyond question, the generational shift happening at Anfield makes a contract extension unlikely — Liverpool typically avoid tying up significant wage budget in players entering the later stages of their prime years.
For Celtic, a homecoming narrative has been built into every Robertson exit story for years, and the sentimental appeal of a return to Glasgow is real. Whether Celtic can structure a package competitive enough against European offers is the practical challenge.
Atletico Madrid under Diego Simeone value Robertson’s defensive reliability and set-piece delivery, and the Spanish football environment would represent a genuine footballing challenge at the right club for his profile.
Liverpool’s search for a replacement left-back will be one of the less glamorous but equally important tasks of the summer rebuild — alongside finding a Salah replacement and potentially addressing the central defensive question around Van Dijk’s succession.
