Liverpool
Liverpool steal march on Man Utd after making £43m ‘proposal’ to sign exciting international star
Liverpool steal march on Man Utd after making £43m ‘proposal’ to sign exciting international star
Liverpool have stolen a march on Manchester United after making a £43m ‘proposal’ to sign Bayern Munich midfielder Ryan Gravenberch in the summer transfer window, according to TuttoMercatoWeb.
The online news portal claims that Manchester United have also shown a ‘concrete interest’ in signing the Netherlands international but are yet to put forward any formal offer.
However, it appears Liverpool have formalised their interest as the Italian publication says the Reds have made a proposal to sign Gravenberch and are willing to pay £43m (€50m) to get a deal done this summer.
Liverpool still face a battle to get a move agreed as the report says Newcastle United have also put forward an offer but Bayern Munich are reluctant to sell and have not set a price for the midfielder.
The Reds are in the market to bolster their midfield ahead of next season and have linked with several players including Jude Bellingham, Mason Mount, Alexis Mac Allister, and Manuel Ugarte.
Bellingham is now Real Madrid-bound after Klopp’s side pulled out of the race to sign the Borussia Dortmund midfielder because of the money involved. The 19-year-old had been linked with a move to Anfield, however, it is believed that any move for him could cost well in excess of £100m, which according to reports, is more than half of Liverpool’s transfer budget.
Klopp’s side will be losing Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and James Milner when their contracts expire at the end of the season, therefore the German will need to bring in reinforcements and Gravenberch has emerged as a serious target.
Reinforcement
Gravenberch was first linked with a move to Liverpool last summer but he opted to join Bayern Munich instead. Things have not gone as planned as the 20-year-old has struggled for regular playing time with Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, and Jamal Musiala preferred ahead of him.
According to TuttoMercatoWeb, Bayern do not want to sell the highly-rated youngster in the summer but Gravenberch wants guarantees that he will play more next season otherwise he would be forced to leave the club.
He has racked up 30 appearances for Bayern in all competitions and made two goal contributions with most of his appearances coming as a substitute.
During his stay at Ajax, he emerged as one of the best young talents in the Netherlands after helping the Dutch giants win three Eredivisie titles and two KNVB Cups. Gravenberch became the sixth-youngest Dutch international when he won his first Holland cap in 2021.
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Liverpool submit request to the Premier League to have opening day fixture played away from Anfield
Liverpool have submitted a request to have their opening Premier League fixture of the 2023/24 season played away from Anfield.
While the Reds still have a slim chance of finishing in the top four this term, the club also have one eye on the next season.
Indeed, Jorg Schmadtke has been tipped to become the club’s new sporting director, replacing Julian Ward who will stand down from the post at the end of the season.
Moreover, the club are set for a busy summer in the transfer market, having endured a difficult campaign plagued by poor form and injuries.
As Jurgen Klopp looks to rebuild Liverpool’s waning squad, Anfield is receiving the finishing touches of a major £80million face-lift, and the redevelopment of the ground is likely to spill over to the start of next season.
Liverpool’s Premier League request
According to the Athletic, Liverpool have asked the Premier League to play their first game of next season away due to the redevelopment of Anfield.
The new Anfield Road stand, which will boost the stadium’s capacity by 7,000 seats to around 61,000, is set to be completed at the start of August.
Yet, a test event will reportedly need to be staged at the ground to secure the necessary safety certificate.
In turn, Liverpool officials believe playing their opening Premier League fixture away on the weekend of August 12 will provide sufficient leeway for the Merseyside club to have everything in place.
Paul Cuttill, Liverpool’s vice president of stadium operations, told the publication: “We’ve put in the request, but we haven’t had it confirmed yet by the Premier League.
“If it is confirmed, we’ll be looking at around August 19 for our first home game of the new season to be played here with the new Anfield Road stand open. It’s been incredibly challenging but we’re on time and we’re on budget.”
While work started on the new stand back in September 2021, the new structure has been taking shape behind and above the existing stand, and in turn, has not yet impacted the stadium’s capacity.
However, following the final home game of the season, the pitch will be covered and two large cranes will be brought in to remove the roof of the stand before it is dismantled and taken away.
The new structure has been taking shape behind and above the existing stand [Alamy]
Once the roof has gone, construction company Buckingham Group have a four-week window to demolish the old upper tier. Meanwhile, the lower tier is being refurbished and connected to the new structure.
The test event in early August is unlikely to be a pre-season friendly at Anfield, with Klopp instead taking his squad to a training camp in Germany in July.
Cuttill said: “We need to bring people into the stand and then evacuate to show that it can work from an access and egress point of view.
“We don’t know at this point what the test event will look like due to the work that is taking place on the pitch for that four-week period.
“Once that period is done and we lift the covering off the pitch, we’ve then got to relay the pitch and get ready for the start of the season.
“The critical thing for us is to make sure the pitch is pristine. Once the roof has come off and we can lift the covering off the pitch, we can then assess how long it is going to get the pitch to that standard and then we look at what the test event might look like.”
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