Liverpool will not be moving for Ayase Ueda as a stopgap signing with Alexander Isak facing months out through injury. Isak suffered a leg fracture in the recent Premier League victory away to Tottenham and is now expected to miss a large chunk of the season.
Mohamed Salah is also absent for the time being, playing for Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, leaving Arne Slot with limited options in attack. A January swoop for Japan international Ueda had been floated, but the rumours have quickly been shut down.
According to 1908.nl (via Sport Witness), Feyenoord have 'no reasons to fear' losing Ueda to Liverpool. Slot signed the forward from Cercle Brugge in 2023 after he finished as one of the highest scorers in the Belgian Pro League, and he's the runaway leader in the Eredivisie scoring charts this term.
The 27-year-old scored four goals in a 6-1 victory over PEC Zwolle at the start of the month to take him up to 18 for the season. No other player has more than 11 in the competition.
Even so, Liverpool aren't thought to have any plans to swoop for the star. Ueda also has two goals and an assist in five Japan appearances this season and is likely to have a part to play for his national team at next summer's World Cup.
"It's going to be a long injury. A couple of months," Slot said of Isak, who has undergone surgery. "That's a big, big big disappointment for him and also for us.
"I'm confident he can (play a part in back end of season). It's been a really challenging and difficult period for him. You join a new club, he was very excited and you want to show immediately your qualities but that was simply impossible.
"If you haven't trained for two or three months at serious level, in this league you have to be on top of your game to impact a game of football. We knew it would take months. We knew it could take him time, that's why he's so unlucky he's now injured as we all saw with his goals versus West Ham and Tottenham he got closer to the player and player he was at Newcastle."
Liverpool were able to claim three points against Wolves on Saturday in their first match since Isak's injury. Ryan Gravenberch and Florian Wirtz were on target, with Wirtz's goal his first since a big-money summer move from Bayer Leverkusen.
"It's nice for him to score his first goal. He's been very important for us throughout the season," manager Slot told Match of the Day after Wirtz opened his account.
"But in football it is about results, you are mainly judged on results or on goals and assists. I think today he showed much more than just the goal he scored; he was special for us in many parts of the game."