Report – As a contract with a major European giants approaches, Liverpool considers hijacking star for €60 million

After losing out on Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad, Liverpool has not given up on strengthening their midfield; however, Juventus is still the favourite to sign a player valued at €60 million.

The fact that Liverpool hasn’t added any first-team players despite letting a number of bench players walk away from the team has drawn a lot of attention.

In addition to attacking midfielder Fabio Carvalho and centre-back Sepp van den Berg joining Brentford for a combined salary of over £50 million, midfielder Bobby Clarke signed a £10 million contract to join RB Leipzig, defender Joel Matip became a free agent at the end of the previous season, and number six Thiago retired earlier this summer.

Furthermore, the midfield player chose to remain with the La Liga team just as it appeared that they had signed Spain’s top player, Zubimendi, for a reported sum of around £50 million.

While many Reds supporters will be worried about the lack of signings, Arne Slot, Jurgen Klopp’s replacement at Anfield, has taken a more measured stance on the subject.

The former Feyenoord manager stated, “I trust the team,” one week before the summer transfer market shuts. As I’ve already stated, I inherited a young, talented crew. They have our utmost faith. They demonstrated that they deserve our confidence.

Virgil van Dijk, his captain, seems to be somewhat more concerned about the Reds’ inability to add any new players, though.

“Obviously I think we should make some signings based on how long the season will go,” the Dutch defender stated earlier this month. However, I believe they are working behind the scenes, and I have complete faith and confidence in the club to act in our best interests and assemble the strongest team possible so we can compete in every competition.

“Having the trust is the key thing I am focussing on; the rest is history. We shall see how that turns out, but I believe they are working really hard behind the scenes.

Liverpool is still searching for a midfield reinforcement, even though Slot is presently starting Ryan Gravenberch at number six because the Dutchman likes the more seasoned defensive midfielder Wataru Endo.

Liverpool is holding onto its transfer hopes

Teun Koopmeiners, the master midfielder for Atalanta, has long piqued Liverpool’s interest. The 26-year-old, who has 29 goals in 129 games for the Italian squad, was a major contributor to his team’s Europa League victory the previous season, defeating Klopp’s Reds in the process.

Although Juventus is in the lead in their pursuit of the Netherlands international, TEAMtalk has learnt that Liverpool is still interested in the 6’2″ midfielder and has requested further details regarding his circumstances.

The former AZ Alkmaar star has reportedly already agreed to personal terms with Juventus, according to our sources, but the Merseyside team is still holding out hope for a transfer hijack.

Reds manager Slot, who coached Koopmeiners at AZ from 2019 to 20, is a huge fan of the Netherlands international and believes he is one of the best candidates to bolster their midfield.

Despite this, Koopmeiners, who scored 15 goals the previous season, has often expressed his preference to join Juventus and is actively working to make this transfer happen.

He is valued at €60 million (£50.8 million), thus Atalanta would like to sell him overseas rather than bolster a direct league opponent. Nevertheless, the Serie A team would like to keep him in the lineup for the upcoming campaign.

Moreover, Atalanta is adamantly against Juventus’ plan to stretch out the cost over a number of years. A large amount of that money is what Atalanta wants upfront, which might allow Liverpool in.