Gerrard nearly sealed Willian deal
Liverpool have been linked with Willian today and the Chelsea man very nearly moved to Anfield in 2013.
Speaking in his Autobiography, Steven Gerrard recalled his part in trying to bring the Brazilian to the club.
“I had an unofficial role at the club, trying to persuade some great players to join Liverpool,” Gerrard said.
“It was the same ritual every summer. The club would let me know which long-shot they had in mind then ask me to contact him.
“They thought that a request to consider moving to Liverpool would have more impact coming from me.
“In 2013, the latest player in our sights was Willian. I followed the usual routine when approaching a star player we wanted to sign. Instead of calling him directly I always sent a text. It seemed more respectful.
“I said hello and hoped he didn’t mind me contacting him directly. I stressed how much I admired him as a player and then, having mentioned that I knew Liverpool were speaking to his agent, I used the standard line: ‘If you need to chat or ask any questions I’m available at any time.”
Werner green-lights move as release clause decision made
Timo Werner is reportedly ready to move to Liverpool.
Sky Sports claim the German has made a decision on his future and wants to move to Anfield.
They also claim Liverpool will not pay his £52m release clause which expires on June 15th.
That means they may have to haggle with the RB Leipzig board to get the deal over the line.
Coutinho phone call
Philippe Coutinho reportedly phoned Liverpool to see whether they would save him this summer and bring him back to Anfield
The Brazilian’s career is on a downward spiral after he failed to make an impact at Barcelona, following his mega-money move in January 2018.
But according to Sport (via Sport Witness), Liverpool have made it clear they won’t be re-signing their former midfield magician.
Bayern Munich are unlikely to exercise their £109million option to buy meaning Coutinho could be set for a move to another Premier League club.
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Brozovic deadline set
Marcelo Brozovic’s agent Miroslav Bicanic has warned any potential buyers that there is a deadline to meet if they want to trigger his £53million release clause.
A move to Liverpool has been talked up in recent weeks, with Gini Wijnaldum yet to sign a contract extension.
“Brozovic is currently the most attractive Croatian player on the market,” Bicanic told Croatian outlet Sportske Novosti.
“He is at the height of his career, he has all the qualities needed, but we can’t make a decision about next season before the second half of June due to the Coronavirus crisis.
“However, a transfer worth his release clause of €60m could take place in the period from 1 to 15 July, when it’s valid.”
Carragher makes Torres claim
Jamie Carragher has claimed that he knew Liverpool had pulled the wool over Chelsea’s eyes when they sold Fernando Torres for £50million.
The striker controversially left Liverpool for the Blues in January 2011, but failed to live up to his price tag at Stamford Bridge.
“I couldn’t believe it. I knew we had kidded Chelsea. Those last 12 months, he was a shadow of his former self,” Carragher told Sky Sports.
“For 18 months at Liverpool, he was the best striker in the world, and I think he had such a good record against Chelsea that obviously stuck in the owner’s mind. Chelsea at that stage, I think the owner was still buying players who he wanted, Shevchenko was another case.
“What happened that was fortunate for Liverpool, that season we played Chelsea, and we weren’t having a great season and Torres was having a really poor time but he scored two against Chelsea. I think the decision was made then – as soon as January comes, we are going for Fernando Torres.
“£50m was major money at that stage and we were all in a state of shock, we could not believe we had got £50m. We ended up doing something similar ourselves in buying Andy Carroll for £35m, but we did get Luis Suarez out of it.
“I was not surprised at all that it didn’t go well.”
