Liverpool to spend £70million on a Guinea international midfielder

Every player has their price. But sometimes that price is very high. Very high indeed.

According to German newspaper BILD this morning, Naby Keita could cost Liverpool around £70million to prise from RB Leipzig.

The Bundesliga club are determined not to sell, and the price-tag reflects their stance.

Jurgen Klopp has made Keita a priority target as he looks to add to his options in the centre of midfield this summer.

The Bundesliga ace has put in a series of impressive performances this season, scoring eight goals and providing seven assists in just 29 league starts.

His fine performances have helped Leipzig qualify for the Champions League after finishing as runners-up to title winners Bayern Munich.

Jürgen Klopp has identified the 22-year-old central midfielder as a key target after completing the £39million club record signing of the Egypt international Mohamed Salah from Roma last week.

Despite Leipzig’s sporting director, Ralf Rangnick, and chief executive, Oliver Mintzlaff, publicly insisting that neither Keïta nor the Sweden forward Emil Forsberg will be sold, Leipzig are believed to be demanding £70million for Keïta, who joined for around £10million last year.

“It would be negligent to give away one of our key players now,” Mintzlaff said last week. “Emil and Naby are both extremely talented players with a lot of potential. We are delighted that we as a club can keep up with their development and that we can prove ourselves in Champions League in the upcoming season.”

That sort of figure is likely to price the Reds out of a move but it remains to be seen if Liverpool can negotiate that figure down.

Image credits to Jens Meyer/AP.

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Oxlade-Chamberlain set for Liverpool move

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will continue the Anfield spending spree with a £30million move for Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The Kop boss completed a £39million deal for Roma winger Mohamed Salah on Thursday and, has now set his sights on raiding the Emirates for the Gunners' England midfielder.

Oxlade-Chamberlain, 23, has just 12 months left on his contract and has become frustrated at the club’s lack of talks over a new deal — and with not being a regular starter under Arsene Wenger.

Jurgen Klopp is a known admirer and is set for a busy summer as he attempts to build a squad capable of challenging both in the Premier League and in Europe where the Reds are back in the Champions League after a two-year absence.

Arsenal’s wage bill is expected to rise significantly as the club look to strike deals with influential duo Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.

The club will therefore be forced to save money through player sales and it is claimed Olivier Giroud could follow Oxlade-Chamberlain out of the exit door in the coming months.

Arsenal are set for an overhaul of their own and are under pressure to cut their wage bill in the wake of the Premier League's new cost control measures that are coming into force this summer.

The rules say that a club’s wage bill should not be more than £7million more than it was in 2016-17, or £19million more than from the 2012-13 season.

If it does increase beyond that limit, the money can only come from external sources such as player sales, ticketing or commercial money, rather than Premier League central funds.

This means the money will have to be found in player sales this summer, not just of fringe players, but first-team players too.

Olivier Giroud is another who could follow Oxlade-Chamberlain out with Napoli joining Marseille and West Ham monitoring his situation. Jack Wilshere is another who could leave after spending last season on loan at Bournemouth but his wages may prove a stumbling block to a permanent move.

There are plenty of fringe players likely to depart, including Calum Chambers, Wojciech Szczesny, Chuba Akpom, Kieran Gibbs, Lucas Perez and Carl Jenkinson but Hector Bellerin is set to stay with the Gunners telling Barcelona that the Spanish right back is not for sale at any price.

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Who's next for Liverpool?

Sport Bild in Germany says Liverpool are still in contention to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after Borussia Dortmund's deal with Paris Saint-Germain fell through.

Dortmund want Aubameyang's future sorted by the end of July and if no transfer can be agreed by then he will stay in Germany.

Meanwhile, former Liverpool player John Aldridge has urged Virgil van Dijk to go on strike to force through a move to Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp's side publicly apologised to Southampton and ended their interest in the Netherlands international earlier this month after accusations of tapping up.

But Aldridge believes Liverpool could resurrect a deal for Van Dijk if the player makes it clear he wants to leave St Mary's.

And one more line from the Daily Mirror, who claim Klopp wants to sign four key players this summer, after Salah.

The Liverpool boss has reportedly prioritised a central midfielder and centre-back and each could cost considerably more than the Egypt international.

Naby Keita is his top midfield target, while Leonardo Bonucci, Jerome Boateng and Kalidou Koulibaly are under consideration after the failed attempt to sign Van Dijk.

The final piece of the puzzle will be a new left-back to replace Alberto Moreno.

Source: Skyports

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Liverpool complete signing of Mohamed Salah

Liverpool Football Club have completed the signing of Mohamed Salah from AS Roma.

The 25-year-old agreed a long-term contract with the Reds on Thursday after completing a medical. He will officially become an LFC player on July 1, 2017.

Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com after the move was sealed, Salah said: “I’m very excited to be here. I’m very happy.

“I will give 100 per cent and give everything for the club. I really want to win something for this club.

“We have a great team and very good players. I was watching the games last year and everyone was giving 100 per cent to win something.

“Everyone can see the coach gives everything. I hope to see that together we can give everything to win something for the club, for the supporters and for us.”

Salah scored 29 goals in 65 appearances in Serie A across two seasons with Roma.

The Egyptian, who has also previously represented Basel, Chelsea and Fiorentina, has been capped on 52 occasions by his country since 2011, scoring 29 goals in that time.

Source: Liverpool FC Official

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Liverpool set to seal Salah transfer

Liverpool expect to sign Mohamed Salah before the end of the week, with the winger due to have a medical on Merseyside before completing a £35m transfer from Roma.

Salah left his native Egypt on Tuesday and is likely to have his medical at Liverpool’s Melwood base. Personal terms are believed to have been agreed with the 24-year-old.

The deal will bring to an end a period of negotiations between Liverpool and Roma that began at the start of the month and saw the Serie A club reject an initial £28m bid. With Jürgen Klopp determined to sign Salah an increased amount, which could rise with add-ons, was eventually offered.

Signing Salah represents a case of second time lucky for Liverpool, who wanted the player in 2014 only to see him move to Chelsea instead from the Swiss club Basel. He struggled to make an impact at Stamford Bridge, however, and in 2015 moved to Italy, joining Fiorentina on loan before moving to Roma, also on loan, soon after.

That became a long-term move last August and Salah has subsequently flourished for the Giallorossi. In the 2016-17 Serie A season he scored 15 goals and assisted 13 others in 31 league appearances.

Klopp believes Salah can provide Liverpool with an injection of pace in their frontline, something all but absent when Sadio Mané is unavailable, and such is the manager’s keennees to acquire the player that Liverpool are poised to make him the joint most-expensive signing in their history, following the £35m spent on purchasing Andy Carroll from Newcastle United in January 2011.

Source: The Guardian

Image credits to Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters.

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Liverpool ready to break the bank for Dortmund's striker

Liverpool are reportedly prepared to pay Borussia Dortmund £61.2m (€70m) for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The Gabon international has long been linked with a move to Liverpool in the past but Dortmund have always resisted any approaches.

But reports in France claim Liverpool are willing to break the bank to land the talented striker this summer.

French publication Le Parisien suggest owners Fenway Sports Group are prepared to fund Jurgen Klopp's spending spree during the transfer window and Aubameyang is one of his targets.

Aubameyang worked under Klopp during the German's time in charge of Dortmund where they won the DFL Supercup twice.

Liverpool's chances of signing him are also boosted by the fact the striker is open to the idea of a move to Anfield, Le Parisien claim.

The Reds have Champions League football on offer this term - something they have been unable to lure the 28-year-old in previous attempts.

Aubameyang, who scored 31 goals in the Bundesliga last season, is under contract with Dortmund until 2020.

Klopp is a long-term admirer of Aubameyang and is thought to be on the lookout for a new striker this summer.

Source: Daily Express

Image credits to Getty Images.

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Liverpool up their bid for Sporting winger

Liverpool will launch a €50 million (£43.7m) bid for Sporting winger Gelson Martins, according to reports in Portugal.

A Bola claims that Jurgen Klopp’s side have already had an offer in the region of €40m (£35m) turned down by Sporting.

But Liverpool are going to make a renewed effort to sign the Portugal international with a bid that’s close to the 22-year-old’s €60m (£52.5m) release clause.

Last week, reports in Portugal claimed that Manchester United had entered the race to sign Martins as Jose Mourinho is also on the hunt for a new winger to bolster his squad ahead of the club’s return to the Champions League.

Liverpool, however, are hopeful that their new offer will convince Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho to sell.

Martins was one of Sporting’s standout players last season as he scored six goals and registered nine assists in 32 league appearances.

Liverpool also remain in talks with Roma to sign Mohamed Salah and although a £90,000-a-week contract has been reportedly agreed with the Egypt international, the two clubs are yet to agree a fee.

Source: Metro

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Roma told Liverpool to add another £10million into their bid

Liverpool have been told to add another £10million onto their bid to land Mohamed Salah — or forget it.

The Reds have resurrected talks with the winger’s club, Roma, after having an initial bid of more than £26m turned down.

But on Wednesday, as ­negotiations intensified and were confirmed by their sporting director Monchi, Liverpool were warned that “Roma is not a ­supermarket” and the Italians will set the price.

We understand that the price is around £35.5m — and the ­Premier League side will be told it is a take-it-or-leave-it deal for the Egypt international, who has been identified by Jurgen Klopp as the pacy wideman his system needs.

Monchi was adamant his club would also not be selling ­defender Antonio Rudiger.

And they are in the driving seat when it comes to ­dictating a price for Salah — though Monchi did concede they will sell when the ­bidding reaches their ­valuation of the player.

“It is true that there is a bid for Salah from an English club, but the price is made by Roma, so we will decide, depending on the ­circumstances,” he said.

“Roma does not want to sell players, Roma wants to build the best team for our goals — we are not a supermarket. Only for Salah is there a deal. Rudiger will not leave, there is zero chance.”

Roma, though, have issues relating to Financial Fair Play rules and must raise around 40m euros by the end of June.

That could see them ­accept a bid of £31m, with £5.5m in add-ons.

Liverpool know there are no rival offers for Salah at the moment and will not rush to ­increase their bid.

The 24-year-old, who had a brief, ill-fated spell at Chelsea, has told Roma that he wants a move to Anfield, and his ­fellow Egypt international Mido insisted earlier this week that the deal will be pushed through.

“Salah will definitely move to Liverpool, it’s just a matter of time - Liverpool’s style suits him perfectly,” said Mido. “But I fear for him coping with the tempo of the Premier League.”

Liverpool are considering alternatives, with Sporting winger Gelson Martins an option.

But the ex-Chelsea man remains their top target with a deal around £90,000-a-week thought to have been agreed.

Source: Daily Mirror

Image credits to AFP.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club or Red's Fury™ blog.

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