Liverpool Ready To Bid £14.2m For Arsenal Target After Club Agrees To Sell

With the summer transfer window in full swing, managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads ahead of the new season so we’ll bring you all the news and gossip. Today, Liverpool are ready to bid for Asier Illarramendi….

Liverpool are ready to table a £14.2m bid for Arsenal target Asier Illarramendi after Real Madrid told the midfielder he’s free to find a new club this summer, according to the Daily Star.

Illarramendi has struggled to make an impact at the Bernabeu since moving to Madrid from Real Sociedad in 2013 with the 25-year-old making just 10 league starts last season.

It looks like his first team chances aren’t going to fare much better under new boss Rafa Benitez as the Daily Star claims that the midfielder doesn’t fit into the Spaniard’s plans and has been told by Madrid he’s free to find a new club this summer.

The newspaper, who cite the Express as their source, suggests that the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool are among the clubs who have been showing a keen interest in signing Illarramendi.

However, it looks like the Merseysider’s are ready to steal a march on their Premier League rivals as the Star says that Brendan Rodgers is now ready to test Madrid’s resolve with a formal £14.2m offer.

It remains to be seen how the Spanish giants would respond to such an offer but I think they’d give it serious consideration as it would allow them to recoup a large portion of the fee they paid Sociedad two years ago and provide Benitez with funds to use elsewhere.

Liverpool have been extremely busy in the transfer market this summer but it appears Rodgers still has plans to further strengthen his squad before the window shuts and I think Illarramendi would be a useful addition.

The Spaniard was excellent for Sociedad before moving to Real and he would give the Anfield club a real ball-player in the middle of the park – something that would compliment the hard-working approach of Jordan Henderson and James Milner nicely.

However, there is still time for Arsenal to step-up their interest and Arsene Wenger may decide to do just that after news that Jack Wilshere is facing up to two months out with another ankle injury [via Arsenal.com].

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news | Liverpool transfer news

Illarramendi would give the Frenchman another option in midfield and he could be viewed as the ideal long-term replacement for Mikel Arteta, as he has a similar style of play in the deep-lying playmaker role.

We’ll have to see how things develop over the coming weeks but I think Illarramendi would be a great buy for either Liverpool or Arsenal if they could snap him up for around £15m, as long as they could get him back to the level he was at during his time at Sociedad.