With the Premier League season done and dusted, Liverpool have set out to complete some early transfers before the window opens on the 9th of June. The Reds have been linked with a move for a number of players this summer as Klopp looks to clear-out some deadwood at Anfield.
Liverpool have reportedly reached an agreement with FSV Mainz to sign their goalkeeper Loris Karius for a fee reported to be around £4.7 million. While no deal has been agreed officially as yet, the Reds area confident of securing his transfer soon. Karius has been an integral part of Mainz’s impressive campaign in the German top-flight this year that has seen them finish in 6th place, giving them a Europa League spot for the 2016/17 season.
With Adam Bogdan set to leave in the summer following a disappointing season, Klopp has turned towards the German goalkeeper to provide competition for Simon Mignolet. Young Welsh international Danny Ward is expected to go for another loan spell to acquire more first team experience, with Huddersfield Town showing interest in the 20 year old. Karius, who has already clocked 91 appearances in only two years with the Mainz first team, has been scouted by the Reds all season, with Klopp reportedly a big admirer of the player. The 22-year-old Bundesliga shot-stopper is no stranger to the ways of English football, having spent two years of his youth career at Manchester City before being offered a senior contract with Mainz.
Piotr Zielinski set to complete Liverpool move this week
Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski looks set to make his long-awaited move to Liverpool this week, finalising his switch from Udinese. Zielinski has spent the past two seasons on loan with Serie A side Empoli but is poised to move to the Premier League, with Jurgen Klopp earmarking the 21-year-old as one of his priority targets this summer.
First linked with the Reds at the beginning of January, Zielinski has spent the second half of the season underlining his ambition to sign for the club. This big move looks set to be completed earlier than June, however, with Polish outlet Przeglad Sportowy reporting that he will sign a contract with Liverpool by Wednesday at the latest.
Talks between the Reds and Zielinski’s representatives are said to have entered a “crucial phase,” with Udinese unlikely to stand in his way. A box-to-box midfielder by nature, Piotr Zielinski offers different dimensions to Liverpool’s midfield and the Reds’ would like to seal the Polish star’s move at the earliest.
The midfielder has earned 13 international caps with Poland and has earned his place in the Euro 2016 squad along with a number of Klopp’s former proteges in Robert Lewandowski, Lukas Piszczek and Jakub Blaszczykowski.
Red hot Arkadiusz Milik set for Premier League?
Dubbed ‘the next Robert Lewandowski’, Arkadiusz Milik is being linked with a move to a number of clubs after a spectacular season with Ajax in the Dutch Eredevisie. Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton are all favourites to sign the star. However it is the Reds’ opponents in the Europa League final on Wednesday, Sevilla, that seem to be the strongest contenders for the player’s signature.
Milik has scored 24 goals for the runners-up in the Dutch top-flight this season and has assisted 12 others to cap off an impressive season for the Polish forward. Big players from the Dutch league don’t usually come with a guarantee of success in the Premier League. Milik, therefore, represents something of a gamble. The Reds can ill afford another failed attempt to replace Suarez after Mario Balotelli and Christian Benteke‘s big-money moves. So Liverpool should tread with caution.
Sergi Canos headed for exit despite being handed debut on Sunday
Despite making his Liverpool debut in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with West Brom, Sergi Canos could leave the club this summer. With the Spaniard’s contract entering its final year this summer, the Independent‘s Jack Pitt-Brooke has suggested Canos could leave on a permanent deal.
This comes with the club and Canos’ representatives “way apart” when it comes to contract talks, as Liverpool are said to have offered just £3,000 a week. As a result, if a deal cannot be agreed, Canos is likely to leave in a £1 million deal, with Brentford joined by Rangers, Reading and Fulham as interested parties. Spanish sides Eibar and Sporting Gijon are believed to hold a long-term interest in the former Barcelona youngster, though they would only move for a pre-contract deal next summer.
Liverpool recently lost fellow academy talent Jordan Rossiter in a similar situation, with the midfielder moving north of the border to join Rangers, with the Reds receiving a paltry compensation fee of just £250,000.
