Liverpool
Liverpool Eye Strike Duo After Refusing To Meet Top Targets £32.5m Asking Price
Liverpool have turned their attention to Fernando Llorente and Sevilla’s Carlos Bacca after refusing to meet Christian Benteke’s £32.5m release clause
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 two strikers….
Liverpool have turned their attention to Juventus striker Fernando Llorente and Sevilla’s Carlos Bacca after refusing to meet Christian Benteke’s £32.5m release clause, according to the Telegraph.
Despite already agreeing to sign Danny Ings from Burnley, Brendan Rodgers is expected to further strengthen his strike-force this summer after seeing his side register just 52 league goals last season.
The Telegraph claim that Benteke has been the Merseysiders No.1 target but they are being forced to turn their attention elsewhere after Aston Villa refused to sell the Belgian for anything less than his £32.5m release clause, with Fernando Llorente or Carlos Bacca seemingly on Rodgers’ radar.
The newspaper suggests that Llorente will be made available by Juventus for a fee in the region of £14.3m as they close in on the signing of Mario Mandzukic, while Sevilla are supposedly refusing to let Bacca go for anything less than his £21.4m buy-out clause.
Both strikers have decent pedigree at the highest level so it will be interesting to see if Rodgers is able to lure either player to Anfield this summer.
Llorente was excellent at Athletic Bilbao but has struggled to establish himself at Juve and was way down the pecking order even before Mandzukic’s imminent arrival, so he’s almost certain to move on in search of more game time.
At 30 years old, he would offer valuable experience to the Liverpool squad but his lack of potential sell-on value may be a concern to the clubs owners.
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Bacca has just come off the back of another superb campaign having scored 28 goals in all competitions for Sevilla so it’s no surprise the Spanish outfit are doing all they can to hang on to him.
Of the two, Bacca would arguably be the more exciting signing but Llorente is the more attainable, so I’d suggest that the Spaniard is therefore the most realistic addition for the Reds this summer.
