[SILLY SEASON]: Liverpool Close to Completing Deals to Sign £37m Midfield Pair as Brendan Rodgers Looks to Finish Summer Spending Early Though Liverpool have already invested in four new summer signings Brendan Rodgers is said to be close to bringing in another pair of top quality talents to further strengthen an Anfield squad he hopes will successfully secure a coveted top four spot next term. CaughtOffside understands that as well as a move to finally land long term target Henrikh Mkhitaryan the Merseyside club are also in advanced talks to sign Celtic youngster Victor Wanyama in a double swoop that will set Liverpool back a combined fee in the region of £37m. Liverpool have reportedly agreed a £25m fee for Armenian goal-scoring midfielder Mkhitaryan and are hoping to bring in the Shakhtar Donestk man for a medical and to iron out personal terms this week, with Rodgers looking to push through a deal before other interested parties threaten to hijack their ongoing move for the 24 year old. Mkhitaryan had an outstanding season last term, finishing the 2012/13 campaign as the top scorer in the Ukrainian Premier League, netting 25 goals from an advanced attacking midfield berth. Rodgers is looking for a forward thinking playmaker to ably link midfield to attack and perhaps act as a long term replacement for veteran England man Steven Gerrard. The Liverpool manager is also hoping to see off other interested Premier League sides with a £12m bid for Celtic’s tough tackling youngster Victor Wanyama, knowing that his side would stand a very good chance of beating both Cardiff City and Southampton, two sides known to have registered bids for the Kenyan international, to the signing of the 22 year old. The Nairobi born box to box performer is seen by Rodgers as a player who can both protect the club’s more creative talents whilst also offering a very real goal threat and Liverpool are said to have scouted Wanyama extensively and were particularly impressed by his displays in Celtic’s Champions League run. The need for a strong presence in the centre of the Liverpool midfield may well have been exacerbated by concerns that Brazilian Lucas Leiva is yet to hit the heights he reached prior to a lengthy time out on the sidelines with first an anterior cruciate ligament injury and then a thigh problem that left the midfielder out of action for three and a half months last season. Having already spent a fair bit on new additions, a decent portion of which being covered by the permanent exit of forward Andy Carroll, Rodgers has been told to further cover the cost of additional summer signings by further player sales. With that in mind Rodgers is hoping to offload Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Jay Spearing and could be ready to listen to offers for youngster Jonjo Shelvey though would be open to a season long loan deal for the former Charlton Athletic man. Source: caughtoffside
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 20:56:56 +0000
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