Liverpool fans are being made to wait for their first signing of the summer, but if a report of the latest player to be linked is to be believed, supporters will revel in upsetting two of their major rivals.
New boss Arne Slot has been content to navigate the pre-season with the squad he inherited from Jurgen Klopp this summer, with his team kicking off their Premier League campaign with a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town at the weekend.
But as we enter the final week of the summer transfer window, Slot and new sporting director Richard Hughes are still yet to bring in any reinforcements - although there have been plenty of players linked.
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The latest link is an eyebrow-raising report from The Sun, who claim that Liverpool are plotting to lure Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite across Stanley Park.
The report claims that Liverpool are ready to offer £63million plus a further £7million in add-ons and that the 22-year-old is ‘open’ to joining the Toffees’ biggest rivals in what would be the first player to make that move since Abel Xavier joined the Reds in 2002.
Everton are believed to be standing firm with their £75million valuation of the England international, but manager Sean Dyche admitted this week that the club are still having to deal with their well-documented financial issues.
"Any offer of a certain level would still have to be looked at by the club," he said. "We are in a better position because of player trading and how much we have lowered wages but it is not solved.”
Liverpool’s reported interest in Branthwaite comes after Manchester United saw two bids for the England international knocked back earlier this summer. Since then, the Red Devils have moved to sign Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt to bolster their defence.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, Liverpool do need to be focusing on finding Virgil van Dijk’s successor and Branthwaite has the talent to become one of the Premier League’s best centre-backs.
Branthwaite, who has three years left on his current deal at Goodison, is valued at £36million by Transfermarkt and the Toffees have made it clear they are not willing to let him go on the cheap, so the Reds would have to go way beyond that price if they are to complete what would be a highly-emotive switch.
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