Liverpool transfer news: Arne Slot drops Andy Robertson hint after 'verbal agreement' with Tottenham

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot dropped a transfer hint on Andrew Robertson following the Reds' agonising 3-2 loss to Bournemouth in the Premier League.

The reigning champions were kept waiting for their first top-flight triumph of 2026 on the South Coast, where their 13-game unbeaten run came to an end in devastating circumstances.

Goals from Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai had erased a 2-0 deficit, but Amine Adli came up with a late winner with virtually the last kick of the game on Saturday night.

As well as being without a win in any of their last five Premier League games, Liverpool are also reeling from the loss of Joe Gomez to injury after the defender collided with Alisson Becker before Bournemouth's opening goal.

Slot delivered a post-match injury update on Gomez, whose injury left the Reds with just one available centre-back in Virgil van Dijk due to the omissions of Ibrahima Konate (personal) and Giovanni Leoni (ACL).

Arne Slot drops Andy Robertson Liverpool transfer hint amid Spurs talk

Wataru Endo filled in centrally for the second half at the Vitality, where the experienced Robertson also replaced first-choice left-back Milos Kerkez amid talk of a possible January move to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Lilywhites have apparently already reached a verbal agreement with the Scotsman and are discussing a £5m deal with Liverpool, who could lose Robertson on a free transfer at the end of the season.

However, amid his side's defensive injury crisis, Slot suggested that he wants to keep Robertson for the remainder of the season and would oppose any mid-season sale of the 31-year-old.

"I think I need all my players," the Evening Standard quotes Slot as saying. "Robbo had to come in at half-time, in my opinion. I always knew that for Milos (Kerkez), another 90 minutes against a very intense Bournemouth side was not a possibility for him, so I knew I would have to bring (Robertson) in.

"I had already had one substitution in the first-half, then you only have two moments left, so I thought ‘let’s bring Robbo in at half-time to make sure Milos stays available for the rest of the season’.

“There’s a lot of games to be played with the players available. I have to manage that as well. The last thing we could need right now is another injury."

Why Andy Robertson to Spurs makes no sense

Spurs ramped up their pursuit of Robertson after Ben Davies suffered a serious ankle injury, although under-fire head coach Thomas Frank still has Destiny Udogie and Djed Spence available at left-back if new signing Souza is sent out on loan.

Robertson's leadership and trophy-winning experience could prove invaluable to Tottenham, but 32-year-old Davies can still be a vocal presence in the dressing room while he is out injured, and the majority of this Spurs squad lifted the Europa League title last term.

The Liverpool man may also not see his playing situation improve in North London thanks to Udogie and Spence's presences, and in an absolute worst-case scenario, he could fill in as an emergency centre-back for Liverpool.

Unless the Reds sign both a centre-half and left-back before the January window shuts - a highly unlikely scenario - they are better off keeping Robertson for the rest of the season, for the sake of just £5m.