Reports in Spain this evening suggest Liverpool have agreed a deal to bring Spanish striker Fernando LLorente to Anfield, with full back Emiliano Insua going in the opposite direction.
Reds boss Roy Hodgson this weekend completed the signature of midfielder Raul Meireles and left back Paul Konchesky should be completed on Monday, leaving a new forward as the manager’s priority.
Speaking after Sunday’s 1-0 win over West Brom, Hodgson said “We’ve got space to add a player. We’d like another striker, we’ve said that all along and there’s no point me denying it. But we still haven’t found the right man and time is running out for us.”
Llorente, 25, was part of Spain’s World Cup winning squad this summer and has been at Atletico Bilboa since age 11. Standing at 6ft 4, the forward has been dubbed the ‘Spanish Peter Crouch’ and would add another dimension to Liverpool’s attack, where options are currently limited.
Reports suggest the deal is worth €11m (£9m), with Insua heading to the Basque club as part of the deal.
Insua though has thus far failed to agree personal terms with the two previous clubs Liverpool have accepted bids for the Argentinian from, and has since been frozen out of the side and has no squad number.
Llorente scored an impressive 21 goals for Bilboa last season. He would team up with Spanish team mates Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres at Anfield.
UPDATE – Monday AM: It appears this rumour of reports in Spanish press has turned out to be false and that an untrustworthy website first published the Llorente link, which then gathered pace and credence elsewhere.
So unfortunately this appears to be a non-starter, as much as everyone at TIA HQ wish it were true, it appears not. Sorry folks.
