According to Tuttonapoli.net, Liverpool have been scouting Hellas Verona defender Marash Kumbulla.
What’s the story?
The report starts off by saying that Napoli made a bid of €21m (£17.7m) plus €4m (£3.4m) in bonuses for the 20-year-old towards the end of the January transfer window, but in the end he decided to wait.
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And it continues by claiming a number of clubs have been tracking him for a while – Manchester United, Manchester City, Internazionale, Borussia Dortmund and, of course, the Reds. Now, though, the price will rise up, with him expected to cost at least €3om (£25.2m).
In demand
The youngster, who was born in Italy but represents the Albanian national side, has been a regular for his current club team in Serie A so far this term, playing 17 matches in the Italian top-flight. He has played a big role in one of the best defences in the division – only the leading trio of Inter, Juventus and Lazio have conceded less goals than the Gialloblu (24).
With one cap to his name, he has been a target for most of the Premier League’s big six over the past year or so – that’s right, Chelsea and Tottenham have also been linked. Clearly, this is a player who is seen as a future star, which is leading plenty of outfits to target him.
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It appears that Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool are looking to add a new centre-back to their squad. This is the second such player they have been linked with this week – Ruben Dias is also said to be on their radar. The Benfica man is 22-years-old, which indicates that they are both being looked at as players for the future.
Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, are the current first-choice pair with 34 and 28 appearances respectively, but the former will turn 29 before the start of next season. Dejan Lovren, meanwhile, could exit in the summer, whilst Joel Matip has continually struggled with injuries since joining from Schalke. A new centre-back may not go amiss, and Kumbulla could be the man to provide Klopp with that boost.
Meanwhile, Liverpool target this 6ft 1in ace.