Butland to Liverpool transfer move shot down as nonsense

A potential move by Liverpool for Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland has been shot down as nonsense by a local journalist close to the club.

This weekend saw the re-emergence of regular Liverpool transfer rumour; a move for Stoke City’s goalie Jack Butland. This one has been on a slow burn for nearing two years but Stoke’s recent relegation has made it more likely.

However James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo has nixed the rumour as ‘nonsense‘. Responding to a reader’s question he states: “Earlier in the season I was told that talk of LFC signing Butland was nonsense and I’m not aware of that position changing.”

More from Rush The Kop

While he doesn’t rule it out entirely it is clearly not an imminent arrival as the weekend reports suggested. He goes on to declare that he doesn’t consider Butland to be any better than current incumbent Loris Karius.

Pearce’s opinion on the standard of Jack Butland is held by the majority of Liverpool fans. While there are few who consider Karius world-class – at least not yet – he has been a reliable option for Jurgen Klopp since winning the job from the error prone Simon Mignolet.

The feeling among the fanbase is if Liverpool are to sign a goalkeeper this summer it needs to be a significant upgrade at the position. The two names that would qualify as an improvement are Atletico Madrid stopper Jan Oblak and AS Roma man Alisson Becker.

The Premier League transfer window opens on Thursday but it is unlikely that Liverpool will tie up any business before the end of May. All attention is on the Champions League final on Saturday May 26th in Kiev, Ukraine.

Next: Six Contracts Liverpool Need To Nail Down in 2018

The emergence as Karius as a viable first team option likely makes other positions a priority. Another forward to supplement the attack, a central midfielder to replace Emre Can and a new center back option all are higher on the transfer list.