Liverpool must deal with Jude Bellingham repeat as Real Madrid “intend to grab” Jurgen Klopp target

Signing a defender is seen as a top priority at Anfield, and Liverpool is eager to carry on their January transfer window spending binge.

If Liverpool doesn’t move fast to finalise a deal for Sporting star Goncalo Inacio, they risk making history again during the January transfer window. Though they are not alone in that market, the Reds are desperate to strengthen their defensive ranks and make sure they have the depth needed to compete in all tournaments.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have made a strong start to the Premier League season, winning seven of their opening 10 games to climb to fourth place.
Liverpool’s impressive performances in the Europa League and Carabao Cup have given Merseyside confidence that they can secure at least one trophy this season.

Manchester United have made major changes to their ranks this summer, with Klopp leading the midfield reshuffle.

Dominic Soboslay, Alexis McAllister, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenbirch have joined the Merseyside squad, replacing the likes of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.

Liverpool are also keen to sign a left-back before the start of the season and investigated the availability of Chelsea striker Levi Colville, but ultimately decided to wait until January.
Athletic defender Inacio has been identified as a top target in the division, but United are not the only ones interested.

According to Spanish news agency AS, Real Madrid have joined the race to sign the 22-year-old and believe he is a defender who can add quality to the squad in the short and long term.
The Santiago Bernabeu side are dealing with a number of defensive injuries and will be hoping to land at least one January signing to prevent the problem from becoming too big.

A £52m release clause was added to Inácio’s contract this summer and Madrid will be willing to pay such a fee when the transfer window opens to secure the Portuguese international’s signature.

Liverpool will be praying that Inacio’s past does not repeat itself. The English playmaker Jude Bellingham passed down the chance to go with Los Blancos during the summer, and Liverpool lost out on signing him.

The Reds were eager to sign the former playmaker for Borussia Dortmund and had already laid a lot of groundwork for the move when they were forced to back off because signing the midfield player would have cost a substantial amount of money, which Madrid was more than willing to pay. Bringing in Inacio would be the ideal retaliation for Klopp, but the German manager needs to pressure Anfield’s higher authorities to move swiftly to avoid having another trade scuppered by Carlo Ancelotti’s group.

More news…….

Pep Lijnders gives four updates on Liverpool’s injury as ‘special’ signing who ‘has everything’ named

Jurgen Klopp’s assistant manager Pep Lijnders was tasked with leading the press conference ahead of Liverpool’s trip to face Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup.

Liverpool will still be without all but one player who missed the win over Nottingham Forest over the weekend.
Additionally, Curtis Jones is also back after his suspension.

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp handed responsibility for the pre-match press conference to his assistant Pep Lijnders, who provided an injury update and the latest news on the situation of Luis Díaz’s parents, kidnapped in Colombia.

Lijnders did not elaborate on the situation with Díaz, but explained that the club was doing everything it could to support the winger in a difficult period. He also praised the force’s response to the incident.

Midfield duo Thiago Alcântara and Stefan Bajčetić remain absent due to injury, while Conor Bradley is yet to return but Ben Doak is back in training and could potentially be included in the squad of the day against Bournemouth.

What’s been said?

“Lucho is an incredible player and we knew that,” Lijnders said.
“But then you see him in the building and he’s the person who’s always smiling, so we really care about him.” Now we try to support him as much as possible; many things are out of our control.

“It’s completely normal.
We hope the authorities find his father and we pray for that. He is one of us and the team responded brilliantly after our goal by holding up their shirt for him so he knows we are there for him.

Not much has changed regarding injuries.
“We missed Thiago,” Lijnders said.
“I missed him a lot. Imagine our new midfield that people are talking about and you also have Thiago in the middle as a guide. It will take time. He won’t be available. We hope to get him back soon.” Stefan is not available.”

“We see the Ryan of Ajax!” Lijnders said of Gravenberch. “That’s why the cut is so important. A player who doesn’t play a match for two weeks will never develop his confidence. I’m not sure what happened at Bayern, but I don’t play.

He has total confidence here. We knew we had a special player thanks to training. Ryan has everything to be an eight and still gets to the penalty area and shoots.\”

“I told Harvey [Elliott] a few weeks ago that I had never seen him train so well,” Lijnders added. “Now he’s behaving consistently.
He’s acting more like a senior than you might think, he’s got the character to do it.
He’s making an impact.”

What does it mean?

For Bournemouth, Liverpool will make many changes. But it would be nice if Doak could be back at some point after his injury, and the number of other players Lijnders spoke about shows the depth of the squad at Anfield these days