Liverpool rumours are non-stop at the start of this week, both those with the future in mind and…those which are pointless and will never come to pass.
Turkish duo targeted for future moves
Liverpool are in talks over a €7.5 million dual deal to sign two Turkish teenagers from the second tier, according to local reports.
Regional newspaper Yeni Asir, via Sport Witness, claim that Turkish 1. Lig side Altinordu have two players the Reds are keen on, with the plan being that they stay at their current side until 18 years of age.
The first is 17-year-old Ravil Tagir, a “left-footed central defender” who has also interested Manchester United.
The other is 16-year-old Burak Ince, an attacking midfielder.
Tagir is a regular starter despite his youth, while Ince has also played almost 1,000 minutes in the league this term, scoring twice.
Three fresh steaming piles of Serie A nonsense
Remember when we “led the chase” for Kalidou Koulibaly? A lot has changed in the two or three weeks since we were [apparently] ready to shell out €90 million for a 29-year-old centre-back.
That rumour seems to have been conveniently forgotten now, as the Napoli man-mountain has been linked with United and now Chelsea since then.
Meanwhile, Calciomercato say Liverpool still want Marcelo Brozovic off Inter Milan—remember that rumour from a month or two back?—but that Antonio Conte wants to give him a new contract to get rid of his €60m release clause.
Finally, there’s this:
Headline: Liverpool ‘ready to capitalise as Barcelona’s £99m move for Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez remains in jeopardy due to constant negotiation delays’ with Manchester United and Real Madrid also monitoring the situation
Times Liverpool are actually mentioned in the actual article: Zero.
A little unclear what we’re going to capitalise on, then. Almost as if it’s a crap report or they just want the clicks.
Restart pending
Countdown to match day! Now we just need to know where we’re playing…
- Harry Wilson has had his loan extended to the new end of the season with Bournemouth
- Here’s how a statistical approach has led to the Reds reducing contact time between players in training
- And Man City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has acknowledged how the Reds “left behind” his team with their immaculate performances
Quickfire LFC news
- The Merseyside derby is set to be confirmed late this week as being played at Goodison Park (Mirror)
- The Reds are being sued for over £1m by a sponsorship introductory firm who say they are owed for the training kit deal with BetVictor (Belfast Telegraph)
- And Bruce Grobbelaar says Alisson can rewrite the record books if he sticks around for a while at Liverpool (Goal)
Around the Prem
- Leicester are fighting off bids for Chilwell from Man City and Chelsea, as Pep looks for what must be his 10th full-back signing in four years (Telegraph)
- Spurs won’t move for Zaniolo, but might move for Zouma, which just about tells you which direction they will go under Mourinho (Star)
- And Spurs have joined a long list of teams who want Ruben Neves this summer. What’s Jose going to do with a midfielder who passes? (Le10Sport)
- West Ham right-back Jeremy Ngakia has turned down two extensions and will leave before the end of the season. More good recruitment work from the Hammers! (Guardian)
Strange rumour of the day
One more bonus Serie A rumour: Roma still want Dejan Lovren. Except, they don’t really, really want him, they just sort of remember they wanted him before.
First, they’ll try and make Chris Smalling’s move permanent, but not for the agreed amount obviously, because Italy. Then they’ll try and loan him again for another season.
Then, if all else fails, they’ll come in with a €4-5 million offer for Dejan.
With the greatest of respect to our No. 6, how bad does your recruitment actually have to be if that’s your entire plan and wishlist at centre-back?
Tweet of the day
https://twitter.com/AndrewF92101686/status/1269984972888256512
What we’re reading
Raheem Sterling on BBC Sport, speaking out on the biggest topic of the day right now in society.
Tinder for transfers! Read this on the Guardian about the meeting app clubs from Premier League down to League Two and all around Europe are using to negotiate loans, transfers and initial contacts between recruitment teams.
Worth watching tonight
Tonight was supposed to be France v Croatia, did you know? Instead, have a couple of nights off—from Thursday onwards, there’s at least one top-flight game in England, Spain, Italy or Germany every single day, right through to the end of the month.
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