Liverpool‘s extensive summer overhaul is set to be kick-started later this week with the club hopeful of completing a move for Brighton‘s highly-rated World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister.
With James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita all departing this close season i understands Liverpool want to sign three midfielders to facilitate a tilt at the Premier League title next term. And they are closing in on the first priority target, just a few days after Jorg Schmadtke’s arrival as sporting director.
It is understood that the Reds are in advanced talks with Mac Allister and his club and the deal will be accelerated by the presence of a clause in his Brighton contract allowing him to leave if certain conditions are met.
The player’s father Carlos is currently in England talking to Liverpool, who are offering a five-year deal and believe Mac Allister’s technical ability and versatility make him the perfect candidate to start their midfield overhaul.
Mac Allister certainly ticks all the boxes for Liverpool: he arrives with extensive Premier League experience and is capable of playing in the sort of high intensity system that Klopp wants to see recreated by the Reds next year.
He has played as a number six, number eight and number ten for Brighton and will add a different dimension to a Liverpool side that struggled to control games against the Premier League’s best teams last season.
For Mac Allister it represents natural progression after a superb campaign in which he scored 12 goals and became a pivotal part of the Argentina team that triumphed in Qatar.
The 24-year-old is keen to make the move and Brighton will not stand in the way of the Argentina international’s preference to leave. There is optimism on the player’s side that a deal can be concluded quickly and it would represent a statement of intent from a club who intend to be active in the market this summer.
They are also interested in Nice’s Kephren Thuram and Borussia Monchengladbach’s Manu Kone. Schmadtke’s contacts in Germany could help pave the way for that deal, with his son Nils about to start work for the Bundesliga club.
Jurgen Klopp will be heartened by the fact the club’s recruitment efforts have not been damaged by a lack of Champions League football.
Although it will look as if Schmadtke’s arrival has been the catalyst, it’s understood that the groundwork for the Mac Allister deal was done before his appointment – which was announced last week.
Despite the changes at the top Liverpool have been working on making this transfer window a smoother one than the previous summer, when they made a huge error by failing to recruit the box-to-box midfielder they clearly needed.
‘I want Liverpool to sign someone like Joelinton’
By Michael Hincks
Dietmar Hamann has urged his former club Liverpool to sign a player like Newcastle United star Joelinton this summer.
“The first position I would look at is the holding midfielder,” Hamann told i. “If they feel Fabinho is the player who plays there, and he gets back to the level he used to be – because with Rodri he was probably the most dominant player in the league – then that’s that.
“The players Liverpool have got are all very similar, and if you look at the size of the Newcastle team – size isn’t everything, but when you stand in the tunnel and see these guys you think, ‘Wow’, because they’re not just big, they can play as well.
“I would like a player of Joelinton’s stature, who can make a goal, has got a physical presence, is good on the ball, is just an all-round player, and hasn’t got too many defensive responsibilities with one player behind him. A player with a physical presence would suit Liverpool very well.”
“You need the first signing to put a strong team together. If Liverpool sign a Mac Allister first, a big player, I think it makes things a little bit easier with the ones to follow.”
Read the full interview here
Having failed with a move for Aurelien Tchouameni, who opted for Real Madrid rather than the Reds, the club went into the season without midfield reinforcements and suffered. There is a resolve at Anfield to avoid a similar fate this season – hence the early move for Mac Allister.
While there was much disquiet among supporters at their decision to pull out of the chase for Jude Bellingham, it has allowed them to move onto other targets and make quick progress.
Liverpool were handily placed to move for Bellingham before opting to step aside. The England midfielder is now in advanced negotiations with Real Madrid, with a deal that could rise to £110million in the final stages.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3ncksZd
Post a Comment