Liverpool’s clever way to work around transfer rules with their new signing
Liverpool has been busy in the last few days of the transfer window, working hard to strengthen their squad and give coach Andoni Iraola the players he needs to compete for trophies this season.
The Reds didn’t start the season as well as they hoped, drawing their first two Premier League games against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest.
Since their draw with Forest, the 2025 Premier League champions have made three new signings, but only one will play for the team this season.
That player is Bradley Barcola, who joined from PSG for an initial fee of £106 million. Fans are hopeful this big signing will make a real difference for Liverpool this year.
The other two players Liverpool signed are Lucca Brughmans from Genk and Djylian N’Guessan from Saint-Etienne in France’s Ligue 2.
Brughmans is staying on loan at his Belgian club for the rest of the season and will move permanently to Liverpool next year when he turns 18.
N’Guessan’s move is a bit more complicated. Liverpool can’t sign him officially until his contract ends next season, but they want him to play at a higher level than Ligue 2 for now.
So, although N’Guessan belongs to Saint-Etienne, he’s been loaned out to Ligue 1 team Brest to get top-flight experience. This deal was made by Saint-Etienne, not Liverpool, because Liverpool has already used all their foreign loan spots.
The Reds had filled their loan slots with Harvey Elliott’s season-long move to Valencia in Spain, so Brest agreed to take N’Guessan, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
N’Guessan will sign a contract with Liverpool in January and officially join the club next summer.
The 18-year-old striker has shown promise since making his debut for Saint-Etienne back in January 2025 against Stade de Reims.