Liverpool rubbish Turkish transfer rumors but quiet on top midfield target

Liverpool have rubbished claims of a deal for Turkish star Abdulkadir Omur but are staying very quiet on top midfield transfer target Sandro Tonali.

No sooner had the transfer rumors appeared then Liverpool had shot them down. The club have not agreed a deal for Turkish star Abdulkadir Omur as the Liverpool ECHO reports that the news is false and he is not a target.

A tweet from Turkish news sources have claimed the Reds had “shaken hands” with Trabzonspor on a £17 million deal for the talented midfielder. However the club were swift to issue a denial to the local paper.

Bookies dropped their odds dramatically on Omur moving to Anfield earlier in the month. But these strong and quick denials from inside Melwood seem to be genuine rather than misdirection to keep a deal secret.

The speed at which these transfer rumors were rebuffed makes reports from other targets more interesting. There was breaking news last week about the Reds approaching Brescia for 18-year-old midfield sensation Sandro Tonali.

Those rumors came straight from the Brescia chairman and have not been denied – or mentioned at all – by sources close to the club. That is an indicator the wonderkid is actually of interest to the Anfield hierarchy and they will not be drawn into comment.

Equally there has been no talk about the rumors around Adrien Rabiot from PSG. The midfielder is a free agent in the summer and had been expected to join Barcelona but their signing of Frenkie de Jong makes that highly unlikely.

I think the club have genuine interest in Sandro Tonali and are doing ‘due diligence’ on Adrien Rabiot. If a classy player is available on a free transfer you have to see if he would work at Anfield and what his wage demands would be. Especially if all your rivals are snooping round.

It is hard to read the club’s intentions as there is much gamesmanship to the transfer movements. But my guess is that, at the moment, silence is more suspicious than denial.