Bid Made: Liverpool & Man Utd In Battle To Sign £44m International Star

The summer transfer window is open and managers are working hard on their transfer targets so we’ll bring you all the latest gossip from around the globe. Today, Liverpool and Man Utd face a fight to sign Mateo Kovacic…

Liverpool and Manchester United face a fight to sign Mateo Kovacic after West Ham tabled a shock bid for the £44m-rated Real Madrid midfielder, according to reports via TeamTalk.

Kovacic was considered to be one of the best young midfielders in Europe when he joined Inter Milan from boyhood club Dinamo Zagreb in 2013 and he enhanced his reputation during an impressive two-year spell in Italy.

The Croatian international earned a move to Madrid in 2015 but his time at the Bernabeu hasn’t gone according to plan as he’s struggled to establish himself as a regular at the Spanish giants having started just 10 La Liga games last season.

Understandably, Kovacic isn’t happy with his bit-part role at the European champions and he went public last month with his desire to leave Madrid in search of regular first team football ahead of the new campaign.

The situation has alerted clubs in the Premier League with TeamTalk reporting last week that Liverpool and Manchester United are among the clubs to have registered their interest in signing Kovacic this summer.

Jose Mourinho has already signed Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk but he could be in the market for another midfielder amid speculation surrounding the future of Ander Herrera and the report said United were prepared to meet Kovacic’s £44m release clause.

Jurgen Klopp has also strengthened his midfield options with the arrivals of Naby Keita and Fabinho but the Liverpool boss is on the look out for another big-name signing after seeing a deal for Nabil Fekir collapse and it seems Kovacic is on his radar.

However, it looks like Liverpool and United will face fresh competition as TeamTalk are citing a report from TuttoMercatoWeb that claims West Ham have now made a shock move by opening the bidding for the Croatian star.

The Italian outlet says Juventus, Napoli and Roma are also chasing Kovacic this summer but it’s the Hammers who are understood to be pushing hardest to try and pull off what would be a major coup.

READ MORE –> Man Utd transfer news | Liverpool transfer news

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over the coming weeks but I’d be shocked if Kovacic opted for a move to West Ham when he seemingly has the likes of Liverpool, United and top Italian clubs all chasing his signature.