Liverpool ready to make Serie A midfielder seventh highest-paid player at Anfield as Klopp eyes January coup
Liverpool are reportedly prepared to make a Serie A midfielder the seventh highest-paid player at Anfield, as they look to complete a January deal.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is known to be scouring the continent to bolster a midfield department that has largely struggled, certainly domestically, during the current campaign.
Despite qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League, Liverpool currently sit sixth in the Premier League. They are also seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United.
Their last league outing was a 3-1 humbling at Brentford. Meanwhile, they could only draw 2-2 with Wolves in the FA Cup last weekend.
Having already brought in Cody Gakpo to help Liverpool’s forward line, Klopp is now looking mainly at midfield recruits – although Virgil van Dijk’s injury lay-off has led to suggestions that another centre-back could also be targeted.
However, the Dutchman is only expected to be out for another three weeks. To that end, Klopp is expected to roll with Ibrahima Konate and Joel Matip for now. He also has Joe Gomez and Nat Phillips at alternatives.
That leaves Liverpool focusing on bringing in another addition to Klopp’s engine room, with several names linked.
Jude Bellingham remains their top target, but a January deal is near impossible to pull off and a summer swoop will still cost in excess of £100million, unless Liverpool come up with a clever plan to lure the England man into signing.
Juventus still a strong Liverpool option
However, strong interest remains in Juventus and France star Adrien Rabiot – and the Reds now know how much they will have to pay the midfielder to sign on the dotted line.
It was reported by 90min last month that Liverpool have been in regular contact with the player’s representatives. That is largely due to Rabiot being out of contract in the summer.
And while Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea have also been linked with a move. It’s claimed that Rabiot’s preference is a move to Merseyside.
For their part, Juve are still hopeful the player will sign a fresh contract. And now Calciomercato, via Football Italia, has revealed that the Turin giants are ready to open talks with Rabiot’s camp.
They are willing to offer €7million (£6.2million) per season, plus add-ons. The report also adds that Juventus will also pay a bonus as soon as Rabiot signs.
However, the 27-year-old Frenchman is said to want €10m per season, plus a higher signing bonus.
Those sorts of figures will not be a problem for all of the interested Premier League clubs. Indeed, Rabiot’s demands add up to around £170,000-a-week.
So if he does indeed make the switch to Anfield, it would currently make him the seventh highest-paid player at the club (as per Spotrac).
