Liverpool are reportedly edging closer to signing Cheick Doucoure after a reliable source revealed that the Eagles man is ‘intrested’ in a move to Anfield.
The summer transfer window hasn’t particularly been a great one for the Reds. Klopp lost 6 potential signings, due to many reasons. Now, they kicked-off the season with only two new signings, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai.
These signings seemed to have been sufficient for the situation last month. However, this isn’t the case now as Fabinho and Henderson have also departed the club for Saudi Arabia.
Liverpool even bid a British record fee of £110m for Moises Caicedo. After Brighton had agreed the fee, the player decided to turn down Klopp’s team for Chelsea. The same happened with Romeo Lavia as well.
After three bids being turned down by Southampton, the player finally chose Chelsea over Liverpool.
While these incidents did hurt the sentiments of Liverpool fans, they would surely grow to appreciate the fact that they didn’t end up at Liverpool.
If they did, they wouldn’t have been playing for the badge which is a big ‘no’.
As a result, the time is now against Liverpool in this window to bring in further reinforcements.
And with other clubs sensing their desperation, Liverpool could be forced to pay above the asking price of potential targets.
With that in mind, a report on Monday suggested that Klopp has drawn a new 6-man wishlist for his midfield. This includes a £210m-rated Premier League trio.
Now, according to the Independent’s Miguel Delaney, Klopp has now identified one of those in Doucoure as his new top target. And after two transfer failures in Lavia and Caicedo, Liverpool finally hopes to make it third time lucky in their latest chase.
The Malian has proved a revelation at Selhurst Park since a £18m move from Lens last summer. He proved to be a good player for the Eagles, beating the likes of Michael Olise and Wilfried Zaha. However, his time in south-west London looks set to come to an end after just one season.
And according to Delaney, sources at Liverpool believe a deal for the 23-year-old can be struck relatively easily. Indeed, Doucoure was rated in the £70m-mark when news of Liverpool’s interest first emerged earlier this summer.
However, according to information received by Delaney, Liverpool believe they can seal a deal upward of £50m, but shy of the £60m-mark. As a result, the Reds are now “stepping up efforts” to bring the 12-times capped international to Anfield.
Furthermore, the midfielder has reportedly said yes to a move to Merseyside, with Doucoure “keen to move to Anfield” and that personal terms “wouldn’t be an issue”.
The news will come as a major relief for Klopp, who now hopes to push through the signing at the first available opportunity.
While the news potentially looks like great news for Liverpool, it will come as another hammer blow for Palace.
Roy Hodgson’s side have already lost Zaha for free to Galatasaray, while Chelsea have triggered the £35m exit clause in the contract of Michael Olise.
