The Hard Tackle brings to you all the major news from around the world of football concerning Liverpool.
Liverpool travel to the Riverside Stadium to face Middlesbrough on Wednesday. Apart from the match and the news surrounding the fixture, let us look at some of the other news involving the club.
Cameron Brannagan set for League One switch
20-year-old academy graduate Cameron Brannagan is set for a January switch to League One with the midfielder set to move to Bolton Wanderers on loan, The Echo have confirmed. The player, who broke through into the first-team setup at Liverpool last season, is yet to feature for the Reds this season.
And now the player is set to move away from the club, albeit temporarily, in search of some first-team minutes to continue his development as a player. The move is almost guaranteed to provide Brannagan with first-team action with Liverpool’s usual habit of insertion of an appearance clause in the player’s loan deal.
Liverpool demand that the player be involved in at least 75% of the club’s matches and a six-figure fine in the wake of failure to meet the clause. The clause saw his earlier proposed loan move to Wigan Athletic falling down after the interested club backed out of the deal.
The loan move seems the right way forward for the player with the Salford-born midfielder being knocked down the pecking order by the summer arrivals with Brannagan failing to even make the matchday squad this campaign.
Club owner John Henry mocks journalist and Chinese takeover reports
Liverpool have been linked with a takeover by a Chinese consortium in the recent past. The rumours had taken a backseat after the Reds’ brilliant form but it seems to be creeping back up. Ian Abrahams, who is a commentator for TalkSport, tweeted on Tuesday that, as per his reports, Liverpool’s takeover is set to be complete before Christmas and may even be done by the end of the current week.
@BroadcastMoose @LFC Good that your sources will be debunked so soon. Usually it takes a long time!
— John W. Henry (@John_W_Henry) December 14, 2016
Principal club owner John Henry, who is notoriously known for his Twitter activity, took to the social media platform on Wednesday afternoon to shred the journalist’s claim to ashes while also reaffirming the fact that the club is not for sale.
FSG have admitted to be open to investment in the club as regards the naming rights of the new Main Stand and that seems to be the only investment on their mind right now.
Away tickets for Everton vs Liverpool already sold out
The Merseyside derby awaits Liverpool on Monday with the Reds set to travel to Goodison Park to face their local rivals Everton. The fixture is a hot affair for the faithfuls of both clubs and it seems the Kop army is more than eager to witness another fierce fixture between the rivals.
Liverpool have confirmed on their official website that the away tickets for the Merseyside derby to be held on Monday has already been sold out.
The match seemed set for a dull affair but the recent reversal of form has added a bit of spice into the contest. Everton are likely to be on a high after dispatching Arsenal at Goodison Park with a narrow 2-1 win on Tuesday and Liverpool are currently without a win in two games as they face Middlesbrough.
Everton vs Liverpool is scheduled to kick off at 2000 Hours GMT.
Other Liverpool News:
Manchester United are reportedly willing to listen to offers for beleaguered winger Memphis Depay in January, who has been previously linked with a switch to Anfield.
Liverpool have suffered a blow in their pursuit of Southampton defender Virgil Van Dijk after the player, who is also on the radar of other top Premier League clubs, has said that he would prefer to work under Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
