Kolo Toure's Liverpool departure set to be announced

10 June 2016 10:53

Defender Kolo Toure's departure from Liverpool will be officially confirmed when the club's list of retained players is published on Friday.

The former Ivory Coast international will be the highest-profile name to leave Anfield this summer after his contract expired.

Press Association Sport understands the 35-year-old will not be offered a new contract despite finishing the season as first-choice centre-back alongside Dejan Lovren and putting in the best performance in Liverpool's Europa League final defeat to Sevilla.

There was a point in the last month when there was a chance Toure could earn a new short-term deal with the future of Mamadou Sakho unclear after his failed drugs test.

However, the France international's initial 30-day suspension has not been extended as UEFA investigate whether the fat burning substance found in his sample should even be on their banned list.

With that in mind, and the fact Joel Matip is arriving from Schalke on a free transfer and the 19-year-old Joe Gomez is returning to fitness after a cruciate knee ligament operation, the decision has been made to let Toure go even though Martin Skrtel is set to follow him out of the door with Besiktas interested in signing the Slovakia defender.

Liverpool had considered offering Toure a coaching role but the defender is keen to extend his playing career as long as possible and could now get a lucrative deal as a free agent.

Other players on the released list will include Jose Enrique, Jerome Sinclair and Jordan Rossiter - all of whom have already left Anfield.

The 23-year-old Portuguese Joao Carlos Teixeira is understood to have been offered a new contract but has expressed his desire to leave.

Of the players who are still in contract Liverpool have had preliminary discussions with Germany midfielder Emre Can about extending his deal, which still has two years to run.

Manager Jurgen Klopp also would like Joe Allen, who is entering the final 12 months of his contract, to stay but the midfielder - currently preparing for Wales' first match of Euro 2016 - is seeking more regular first-team football and no talks have been held over an extension yet.

Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins has already expressed his desire to take the 26-year-old back to the Liberty Stadium.

"I think it has been well-documented that Joe is going to look at his future when he is finished out at Euro 2016," he told the South Wales Evening Post.

"Naturally, we are interested in good players like Joe who may be available this summer given that he has a year left on his contract.

"Obviously we will keep tabs on his situation and see what happens later in the summer."

Source: PA