Welcome to the summer silly season! All the big, meaningful tournaments are over, so it’s pretty much summer transfer window talk from now until the start of the league season. Today we cover Liverpool, who really need to get going on their transfer window work this summer.
They have only made one major signing, in central defender Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig, but at least the singular move they made fills their greatest team need. Let’s take a look at who could be, potentially, their second and third signings this summer.
Lyon playmaker Houssem Aouar has been linked with a move to handful of Premier League clubs for some time, and that’s getting turned up a notch this summer.
With two years left on his current deal, the Ligue 1 side is looking to cash in on him now. The two north London sides are said to be the most keen/the front-runners, but now, according to ESPN, Manchester United and Liverpool have entered the chat. It could be a challenge for the Merseyside club as their relations with Lyon are currently frosty, due to the transfer of Nabil Fekir that was talked about, but never materialized.
It will be interesting to see what kind of Houssem Aouar bidding war might be generated with more clubs involved, and how much of this is all “agent driven.”
Elsewhere, a new report from Italian publication La Repubblica claims that Jurgen Klopp is keen on signing Italy and Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella.
The 24-year-old had a massive EURO 2020, helping the Azzuri win the title after playing a major role of Inter in their Serie A championship season.
Either of the players covered here could be a replacement for Georginio Wijnaldum, who left for Paris Saint-Germain on a free earlier this summer.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
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