Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards is in prime position to pull the wool over Napoli’s eyes when the transfer window opens again.
The Liverpool head honcho has gained a reputation for being extremely astute in the market thanks to deals to sell Dominic Solanke and Jordan Ibe to Bournemouth as well as deals to move on Danny Ward to Leicester City.
But 2020 could put another feather in his cap.
Liverpool are always looking for ways to improve the squad, but they’re at the stage now when they can only bring in a select few players.
Jurgen Klopp is looking for the best of the best, hence rumours linking the Reds with Jadon Sancho and Kylian Mbappe.
There could also be some players moved on whenever the transfer window opens again. Xherdan Shaqiri could be one of these, while Divock Origi isn’t necessarily in the safest position ever.
Napoli are in possession of one of these players. Kalidou Koulibaly is an elite central defender who could help take Liverpool to another level. But there’s only one problem: Klopp already has four to pick from.
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So someone has to be moved on to create space for Koulibaly.
This is where Edwards is going to get clever. Dejan Lovren has looked like an odd fit for Liverpool for the past season-and-a-bit. There were rumours linking him with an exit last summer, and few would be surprised if the Croatian left before the start of 2020/2021 (whenever that is).
Also, COVID-19 will mean that clubs might have to taper their spending down a little. Not only have finances been impacted by a lack of games, but the optics of spending big on someone while people are struggling to get by won’t be good.
So, Liverpool plan to use Lovren as a makeweight for a deal to sign Kalidou Koulibaly.
Degs will knock about £20 million off the asking price, which would make the cash offer around £69 million – reported HITC.
I’m not sure about you, but I’d consider a player-plus-cash deal for the 28-year-old Koulibaly that involves the 30-year-old Lovren going in the opposite direction a pretty good one.