Liverpool are set to battle Barcelona and Real Madrid in the summer pursuit of highly-rated Atletico Madrid youngster Theo Hernandez.
Spanish publication Cadena Cope are claiming that Real Madrid are keeping a keen eye on Atletico Madrid youngster Theo Hernandez, who is currently on loan at Deportivo Alaves. The player is also on the radar of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and others like Manchester City, Liverpool and Marseille as well.
Real Madrid have reportedly enquired about the availability of the 19-year-old. However, it is Liverpool who have emerged as the main competition for the La Liga giants, with The Sun reporting that the Reds are prepared to offer upto three times the salary on offer in a potential move to Bernabeu.
Theo Hernandez is one half of a pair of highly-rated Atletico Madrid youth products, with his brother Lucas Hernandez also very highly-rated and on the radar of top European clubs as well. Theo is predominantly a left-back but is equally adept when deployed centrally.
This season he has established himself in La Liga while on loan to Alaves, a club which is right now defying the odds, with his temporary employers in the top half, sitting at 10th place on the La Liga Santander table. Theo has been a regular, featuring in all but 5 of Alaves’ La Liga matches, with 4 assists to his name as well.
The most noticeable performances came in a 2-1 win over Barcelona while also managing to keep his parent club Atletico Madrid at bay for the full ninety minutes, earning a point against Los Rojiblancos.
Liverpool are prepared to triple the wage offer Theo Hernandez has from Real Madrid in order to seal his transfer to Anfield. [SER] pic.twitter.com/n9so8W9UYR
— LFC Transfer Room (@LFCTransferRoom) March 22, 2017
The French Under-20 international has sprung up on the radar of Real Madrid. Los Blancos are wary, though, of the agreement in place between them and their local rivals, one that prohibits them from signing each other’s players.
Despite this, though, Cadena Cope reports Real Madrid have submitted an enquiry for Theo, with Zidane looking for a replacement for the outbound Fabio Coentrao, having been linked to the likes of Marcos Alonso, Alex Sandro among others.
The French youngster could serve as the future of Real Madrid and boss the left side of the defence for years to come, if he does arrive at Santiago Bernabeu.
However, it is the agreement that makes other clubs better placed to sign the player. Barcelona, too, are seeking additions to the wide defensive areas.
The Catalans were mostly looking for a right-back but following recent comments of Jordi Alba, who is now attracting interest from the Manchester duo, they could be forced to look for a left-back in the summer as well.
Barcelona have already secured two impressive youngsters in Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Digne; and Theo could be the next to follow suit. But, as per The Sun, it is Liverpool who could trump others in the pursuit of the 19-year-old sensation.
Jurgen Klopp is already looking for a formidable and natural left-back to add to the squad at Anfield in the summer.
James Milner has done a commendable job but Alberto Moreno’s Liverpool career looks set to come to an end when the transfer window reopens, which is why Klopp is seeking a player with a long-term vision, one who can take over from James Milner.
The player’s Atletico Madrid contract, which runs till 2021, has a release clause of €24 million, an amount that the suitors would be more than willing to pay in order to land the highly impressive youngster. Atletico themselves, though, are looking for a left-back and could see, in Theo, the future of the club; and the present as well.
It is going to be an interesting summer for Theo Hernandez. Cadena report that Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are the ones with the higher interest while The Sun report that it is Liverpool who could be the dark horse in the race to sign the Frenchman.
Wherever he might end up, Theo seems set to take the European football by storm.
