£70m star willing to accept Liverpool transfer, Reds intent – Report

Liverpool have been linked to Cheick Doucoure for weeks and have already contacted Crystal Palace to hire his services.

The Eagles are demanding a massive £70million for their valuable signing, but the Reds are eager to sign him.

According to an exclusive Football Insider story, the Malian international is a priority target at Anfield.

Liverpool are keen to attract him despite a whopping £70m valuation. The good news for the Merseysiders is that Doucoure is also willing to accept the move to Anfield. The 23-year-old star has played a full 90 minutes in each of Hodgson’s three Premier League games this season and David James was particularly impressed with his performance last week against North London giants Arsenal.

The former shot stopper told GGRecon:

“I didn’t really remember Arsenal going through midfield during the game and a lot of that was down to Doucouré’s performance in midfield for Crystal Palace.”

“Given what Liverpool need in this defensive midfield role, Doucoure could be a good fit.”

Under Jurgen Klopp, Henderson was a pressing machine and Fabinho was a top-notch playbreaker with a deep playmaker.

Following the duo’s sale to Saudi Arabia in the summer, the Reds have been content to sign a veteran Endo to bolster their defensive midfield position.

You have to spend a lot of money to lure a talented young star into midfield. Do you think Liverpool should offer £70m to sign Cheick Doucour?

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Jurgen Klopp intervenes as angry Virgil van Dijk ‘insults’ officials over Liverpool red

Virgil van Dijk was sent off in a nightmarish first half for Liverpool against Newcastle.

Jurgen Klopp stepped in by seemingly pushing Virgil van Dijk through the tunnel after the Liverpool defender was sent off against Newcastle. Van Dijk has been sacked for the first time in his Reds career after bringing down Aleksandar Isak to deny a clear scoring chance.

The Dutchman was visibly angry with the decision and it took him some time before he walked off the pitch. He continued to yell at referee John Brooks, with Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville implying he was “insulting” the referee. Van Dijk eventually made his way to the touchline and continued yelling at the fourth official, sounding like he was cursing in his face. Liverpool manager Klopp then appeared to step in to prevent his experienced star from getting into further trouble.

Klopp gently nudged Van Dijk through the tunnel and away from the scene, where the defender clearly wanted to continue arguing his case against the fourth official. The German then continued to protest with the agents, risking being reprimanded.

Van Dijk’s red card came as part of a chaotic first half for Liverpool at St. James’ Park. Fellow defender Trent Alexander-Arnold narrowly escaped sending off in the opening six minutes.

The England defender was booked after three minutes for throwing the ball away after a decision he didn’t like – now considered a mandatory yellow card under guidelines given to referees at the start of the season. Moments later, the right-back cynically brought down Anthony Gordon.

Umpire Brooks only let an embarrassed Alexander-Arnold get away with a warning. But it was the English ace’s mistake that led Newcastle to open the scoring midway through the first half. Mohamed Salah’s poor pass proved too much for Alexander-Arnold to control, allowing Gordon to escape on goal. The former Everton winger coolly passed Alisson.

Newcastle then had the chance to make it 2-0. Isak collected Gordon’s pass and appeared to be one-on-one with Alisson, only for Van Dijk to bring down the Swede savagely.

Brooks had no choice but to show the 32-year-old the red card. Van Dijk will miss the match between Liverpool and Aston Villa next weekend, but his apparent abuse of the referee and fourth official could cost him an extended suspension.

Speaking of Sky’s match commentary, ex-Manchester United defender Neville said: ‘Now he’s abusing the referee. You just have to take your medicines and leave the pitch. We’ve all been there.’