Liverpool want Bundesliga’s ‘defensive jewel’ – available for just €40m
Liverpool want the Bundesliga’s ‘defensive jewel’.
A report in SportBild, circulated by Sport Witness, said that sporting director Michael Edwards could be presented with a real bargain find.
We’ve seen Liverpool linked with other Bundesliga defenders before, most notably Schalke man Ozan Kabak, but this would be a different transfer entirely.
Reds manager Jurgen Klopp opted to go without a fourth choice central defender for this campaign but the team are thin on the ground round now. Joel Matip has missed the first four Premier League games of the season and Joe Gomez’s form has been inconsistent.
This has lead to Fabinho dropping back into defence, and while he’s been good, that’s not a perfect long-term solution.
Gomez’s performance in the humiliating 7-2 defeat by Aston Villa has led to some questioning his medium-term place in the side, and could this €40 million deal be activated because of that?
The man in question is RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano, who has become one of the best Bundesliga defenders around.
We’ve seen Leipzig play around with release clauses before, most recently with Timo Werner, and Upamecano can be bought for €40 million next summer.
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Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United want the player – who Bild described as a ‘bargain’ and a ‘defensive jewel’.
If other teams and fans didn’t really know about the player before the Champions League knockout stages, they do now. He earned rave reviews from his manager and former pros like Rio Ferdinand, reported Goal.
After Leipzig beat Atletico Madrid, Ferdinand said he was untouchable – while Julian Nagelsmann spoke in glowing terms about his young charge.
"“Upamecano was the best player tonight, he was formidable on the pitch,” said Ferdinand.“He was a beast from the first to the last minute,” added Nagelsmann."
Leipzig have already started planning for the future as they signed Dinamo Zagreb teenager Josko Gvardiol, who could be seen as a replacement for Dayot Upamecano.
We’ve seen Edwards is able to structure deals in order to get them over the line, but paying out release clauses might force Liverpool to stump up the cash in one hit.
If that’s the case, we’ll probably need finances to recover after COVID-19 and fans to be allowed back in stadiums.
Next. Jurgen Klopp could finally sign ‘perfect’ Sadio Mane back-up. dark
Or, of course, we could finally sell Marko Grujic, Xherdan Shaqiri and Harry Wilson for their full value and use the proceeds to strengthen the squad.