Liverpool transfer news: Liverpool is being linked with two Bundesliga stars, and one of them could arrive should Xabi Alonso replace Jürgen Klopp this summer.
The Liverpool machine continues to rumble along. The Reds brushed aside Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea in a devastating manner at Anfield on January 31.
Goals from Diogo Jota, Luis Díaz, Dominik Szoboszlai and Conor Bradley — getting his first for the club — put the seal on a tremendous night for Liverpool fans. The Northern Ireland international put in an incredible performance, also registering two assists.
The club, as expected, didn’t make any moves in the dying days of the winter window, with the transfer market closing yesterday in q quiet deadline day. In reality, there was little need for Jürgen Klopp to give the green light to any moves unless there was a serious injury during the month. There wasn’t, and so the German is no doubt happy with what he has from now until the end of the campaign, his last as Liverpool boss.
Yet that doesn’t stop the wheels turning in the transfer market, now with all eyes firmly set on the summer market and life for Liverpool post-Klopp. The club is also without a sporting director now, with Jörg Schmadtke leaving at the end of January, but there could still be some preliminary groundwork behind the scenes.
The rumor mill certainly seems to think so. Here is the Liverpool.com verdict on the transfer gossip to emerge around the Reds today.
In the wake of Klopp’s announcement that he would leave Liverpool at the end of the season, Xabi Alonso’s name has been the one connected with taking over from Klopp more than most. And this isn’t just because he played for Liverpool with distinction between 2004 and 2009.
Alonso currently has Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga table. Should they hold firm and win it — with an absolutely massive game against second-placed Bayern Munich on the horizon — then the Spaniard could certainly be in line for the Liverpool job on merit alone. Even if he doesn’t go the distance, the unbeaten season to date has been hugely impressive.
According to Spanish source Fichajes, Liverpool would also bring in Leverkusen’s German playmaker Florian Wirtz should Alonso be appointed. However, the outlet also reports that it would cost Liverpool around $76m (£59m/€70m) to bring Wirtz to Anfield.
It isn’t the first time Wirtz has been linked with Liverpool (via 90Min), but a deal may become more concrete should Alonso arrive. He is the standout talent in the current Bayer Leverkusen crop, having come back from a serious injury to play a starring role in the title charge.
