Liverpool’s latest transfer rumours and the early build-up to the Leicester game dominate the headlines on Thursday.
Demiral offer turned down by Juve
More an update this one, rather than a new rumour – Merih Demiral was one of the several centre-backs the Reds were linked with on deadline day before we eventually nabbed Ozak Kabak and Ben Davies.
But Gazzetta dello Sport today say the Reds went further than just asking about him – we went all-in with a huge bid of £50 million.
Juve turned that down pretty quickly as they see him being a long-term partner for Matthijs de Ligt, and the news line is that the “wall” Juve have put up to sign Demiral is “useless to climb”.
In other words, he’s not leaving and we’re best off casting our admiring glances elsewhere.
Zakaria smokescreen for team-mate?
Yesterday the German media had the Reds linked with Moenchengladbach midfielder Denis Zakaria, who we have been rumoured to be keen on for some time.
However, the latest reports have that down as merely a clever ruse, an attention-seeking headline while we actually make moves to snare his partner in crime in the centre of the park.
Florian Neuhaus has a €40m release clause which can be activated this summer and Liverpool are on the list of admirers, say Kicker, and it’s between ourselves and Borussia Dortmund to snare him.
They might have an advantage: BMG manager Marco Rose is seen as the front-runner in Germany to take over at BVB in the summer.
It’s all smoke and mirrors for when we sign Haaland and renew Gini, anyway.
Payments and payroll
Rumours over deals struck, deals forced, deals half-forgotten…
- The Reds agreed a deal to sign Ismaila Sarr in January, apparently, but didn’t have the finances to complete it
- There’s a bit of a mix-up somewhere over how much Barcelona owe the Reds for Coutinho still…and over whether he’ll play for them as a result
- And we’ve been told to pay a record fee for Harvey Elliott by a tribunal, which all the same looks like something of a bargain given his progress so far
Quickfire LFC news
- The Reds are likely to play both legs of the CL last-16 against Leipzig at neutral venues (TIA)
- Leipzig defender Willi Orban says his team have nothing to fear from Liverpool’s current form (SW)
- Premier League clubs and the wider football world sent condolences to Klopp this week (TIA)
- And talented 17-year-old Dominic Corness has signed his first pro deal – he’s the player with the most assists at U18 level this season (LFC)
Around the Prem
- Brexit rule changes could have a huge knock-on effect for clubs appointing managers from overseas (TIA)
- Mourinho reckons Dele Alli was ‘distracted’ by talk of a move away in January; we reckon he was just fed up with being publicly told he was cr*p (ES)
- And David Wagner is among the half-a-dozen names being interviewed for the Bournemouth job. So, who should we loan to the Cherries?! (Sky)
Stupid obviousness of the day
The fact that the PFA, Premier League, EFL and other bodies have written to Facebook and Twitter to implore them to take responsibility for the vile and racist abuse footballers are taking is a very good step.
The fact they’ve had to do it and these platforms aren’t holding themselves accountable enough to do something about it in the first place is nothing short of insanity and negligence, considering the unbelievable financial power at their disposal.
Tweet of the day
Liverpool have been linked with Neuhaus and Zakaria. I'm not sure why it'd be either/or. They're different players. pic.twitter.com/jcA0p1XnzA
— Sam McGuire (@SamMcGuire90) February 11, 2021
Worth watching tonight
As of tonight we finally won’t be Club World Cup champions. Watch Bayern Munich beat Tigres from 6pm on BBC iPlayer, Red Button and all that sort of thing.
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