The offseason is here for the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League winners, and that means it’s time for some Liverpool FC transfer talk. Anfield is not expected to have the same kind of blockbuster summer transfer window that they had last year, but they will need to look at replacements for the departed Alberto Moreno and Daniel Sturridge.
Here’s the latest regarding LFC silly season discourse. We begin with Watford, who hold the rights to teenager midfielder Joao Pedro, who’s been linked to both Manchester United and Liverpool already this summer.
According to Sport, Pedro, one of the most promising young up and comers in Brazil, is also being targeted by Barcelona.
Elsewhere, it appears Croatian sensation Dejan Lovren is going to see his five year run at the Merseyside club come to an end. With Virgil Van Dijk and Joel Matip the top pairing in central defense (and given how the Reds back line performed this season, they really shouldn’t make any changes) and Joe Gomez ahead of him in the pecking order, it’s probably best for Lovren he move on.
There have been multiple reports claiming AC Milan will name Ricky Massara from AS Roma their new sporting director, and he’s keen on the idea of bringing Lovren to the San Siro.
Lovren signed a new deal in 2017 which runs until 2021, and it’s been reported that his transfer fee could run about £29 million.
Lovren has certainly has had his ups and downs at Anfield, but the Brendan Rodgers era acquisition probably surpassed the expectations of some.
Finally, one guy who surpassed everybody’s expectations this past season was midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Following the catastrophic knee injury that he suffered in the 2017-18 UCL semifinals, he wasn’t expected to even suit up this past season.
He only made two substitute appearances in 2018-19, but he recovered and returned much faster than anyone expected, and it made for a heart-warming story.
Now he’s set to get that lost season of sorts back with the club set to offer him a contract extension.
There is talk he will get another year added to his current deal, which would then take him to 2023; and that would come with a bump in salary to £120,000-a-week.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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