Liverpool See £33m Bid For Chelsea Target Rejected

The summer transfer window is now open for business so we’ll bring you all the latest transfer rumours and gossip from around the globe. Today, Liverpool are linked with Chelsea target Joao Mario….

The father of Portuguese midfielder Joao Mario claims that Liverpool have seen a £33.5m offer rejected by Sporting Lisbon this summer, according to a report in the Metro.

Mario has emerged as one of the best midfielders in Portuguese football since breaking in to the Sporting first team in 2014 and helped the club push Benfica all the way in the Primeira Liga title race last season.

The 23-year-old continued his excellent form in to the European Championships this summer where he featured six times as Portugal lifted the trophy with a shock 1-0 win over France earlier this month.

Mario’s potential has caught the attention of some of Europe’s top clubs with the Sun reporting recently that Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has identified the midfielder as a potential target with the Italian coach understood to be lining-up a big-money bid.

However, Liverpool have also been strongly linked with Mario and the Metro are quoting the players father as claiming that the Reds have seen a £33m (€40m) offer rejected by Sporting while Inter Milan are also believed to have had a big-money offer turned down.

It’s not made clear when Liverpool’s supposed offer was made but Joao Mario Eduardo suggests that the midfielder remains keen on moving to a bigger club this summer.

‘Proposals for the lad don’t come directly to me,’ Mario’s father is quoted as saying by the Metro.

‘They go to his agent, Kia Joorabchian, and the Sporting President. I was informed, however, that the club said no to €35m plus €10m in bonuses from Inter and to €40m from Liverpool.

‘Nothing particular has happened, my son is a professional and knows he has a contract with Sporting.

‘At the same time, we’re talking about a very valuable player for the club, who would aspire to bigger projects in the course of his career.’

So it’s now been confirmed that Liverpool have held a serious interest in signing Mario this summer but I’d be surprised if the Merseysiders made this supposed bid recently.

Jurgen Klopp has splashed out on Sadio Mane and signed Georginio Wijnaldum from Newcastle United last week so I’d hazard a guess that Liverpool tabled their bid for Mario before they signed the Dutch international.

Mario is predominantly a wide attacking midfielder but he can also play in the middle so there is a slight chance that Klopp could view him as a potential replacement for Joe Allen and is still hoping to take him to Anfield, but I’d be shocked if Liverpool went back in with an improved offer for Mario any time soon.

READ MORE –> Liverpool transfer news | Chelsea transfer news

However, we’ll have to wait and see whether Chelsea decide to formalise their interest in the Portuguese star as Conte is expected to do plenty more business over the coming weeks, but it looks like the west Londoners will have to pay in excess of £33m if they want to land Mario.