Liverpool
Liverpool’s £16m Bid Set To Be Accepted As Rodgers Eyes Fifth Summer Signing
Real Madrid are ready to accept a £16m bid from Liverpool for out-of-favour midfielder Asier Illarramendi this summer, according to the Express.
As the opening of the summer transfer window approaches, managers are working hard identifying targets and lining-up potential deals so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip. Today, Liverpool are linked with a Spanish midfielder….
Real Madrid are ready to accept a £16m bid from Liverpool for out-of-favour midfielder Asier Illarramendi, according to the Express.
Brendan Rodgers is likely to be in the market for another midfielder this summer after seeing influential skipper Steven Gerrard leave for the MLS and several names have been linked with a move to Anfield in recent months.
One such player is Illarramendi and the Express claim that Liverpool have already seen an £11m bid rejected by Madrid for the Spanish midfielder but have returned with an improved £16m offer.
The newspaper suggests that new boss Rafa Benitez – who used to manage Liverpool – will have the final say on Illarramendi’s future but is set to give the green light to the move as he seemingly has other plans in the middle of the park next year.
Illarramendi made his name at Real Sociedad before earning a big-money move to the Bernabeu in 2013 but his time at Madrid hasn’t gone according to plan as he’s struggled to hold down a first team place and was restricted to just 10 league starts last season under Carlo Ancelotti.
It appears his chances of regular action aren’t going to be much better under Benitez and he could now be heading for Merseyside in search of first team football.
As with any transfer story, we need to take the report with a pinch of salt until something more concrete comes out from one of the clubs involved but I think it would be an excellent signing if Liverpool could pull it off.
Illarramendi is a deep lying playmaker who could control the tempo of Liverpool’s play and would provide a solid base in front of the defence from which the likes of Jordan Henderson and James Milner could work from.
Joe Allen is a decent player but I don’t think there’s any doubt Illarramendi would be an upgrade and Liverpool are going to have to strengthen key positions this summer if they want to be back in the top next next season.
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We’ll have to wait and see how much truth there is behind the Express’s report but if Illarramendi does head for Anfield he’d become Liverpool’s fifth signing following deals for Joe Gomez, Adam Bodgan, James Milner and Danny Ings in recent weeks.
