Liverpool could allow a defender to move out on loan in order to help their prospects of a future arrival, while Man Utd are readying an incredible £100m January swoop for a star winger, according to Thursday’s newspapers.
LIVERPOOL SET TO ACCEPT DEJAN LOVREN PROPOSAL
Liverpool’s out-of-favour Croatia defender Dejan Lovren, 30, is attracting the interest of German side Bayer Leverkusen after failing to secure a move to Roma – and this time the Reds look ready to cash in.
Lovren has fallen to fourth choice in the central defensive pecking order with Joe Gomez and Joel Matip ahead of him in the race to partner Virgil van Dijk.
And after he saw a move to Roma breakdown last week over the Italian club’s refusal to meet Liverpool’s £20m asking price, Lovren could move to Bayer Leverkusen before the European transfer window shuts.
According to Bild and via the Daily Mirror, Leverkusen see Lovren as a “major solution” to their central defensive issues, but much like Roma are far more likely to offer a loan proposal, rather than a permanent bid.
The paper claims the Bundesliga side will offer Liverpool £2.75m to borrow Lovren for the season, and while Jurgen Klopp told Roma he saw no sense in allowing him to leave in a temporary loan, he could sacrifice the player to Leverkusen as he looks to grease the wheels for a future swoop.
That’s because Liverpool are keen on a summer 2020 raid for Bayer’s highly-talented midfielder Kai Havertz, who carries as estimated €100m (£91.4m) asking price.
With both Adam Lallana and James Milner possibly set to leave by next summer and with Philippe Coutinho still in need of replacing, Liverpool will reportedly turn to the Germany playmaker to fill the gap and hope that by allowing Lovren to join Leverkusen now, it will curry favour with the Bundesliga side when it comes to negotiations next summer.
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AND THE REST
David de Gea could keep Manchester United sweating until January over a new contract (The Sun)
Manchester United are facing a staggering £36m bill if Alexis Sanchez’s protracted loan move to Inter Milan is made permanent (Daily Mail)
Crystal Palace are ready to extend the contracts of Christian Benteke and James Tomkins (Daily Mail)
The Premier League have turned down a request from Manchester City for extra winners’ medals (Daily Mail)
Celtic are on the brink of bringing Fraser Forster back to the club with the Southampton star set for medical today (Daily Express)
Inter Milan hope to find out by Thursday whether they can sign Alexis Sanchez from Manchester United on loan (Daily Telegraph)
Tottenham are in talks to sell Victor Wanyama to Club Brugge before the Belgian transfer window shuts and hope to recoup the £11m they paid for the midfielder (Daily Telegraph)
Rangers are hopeful a compromise deal can be struck with Liverpool to grant Ryan Kent his wish of a return to Ibrox (Daily Record)
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