The Daily Mirror have pulled off something of a cheeky move here by suggesting that Liverpool want to sign five more players this summer, despite only naming two of them – Joe Gomez and Nathaniel Clyne.
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However, there is enough positivity in their report to make it of interest to us Liverpool fans.
They suggest that Gomez, who currently plays for Championship side Charlton Athletic, will become our fourth signing of the summer over the coming days – following in the footsteps of James Milner, Danny Ings and Adam Bogdan. We have supposedly invoked a clause in his contract which allows him to leave for a figure of around £3.5m, which could rise to beyond £5m.
Brendan Rodgers is also confident of landing Southampton full-back Nathaniel Clyne, who will come in as a direct replacement for the departed Glen Johnson. The Mirror states that we had a £7m rejected last month and are ready to return with an improved offer next week. The Saints have already signed Sporting Lisbon star Cedric Soares as a replacement and are now simply holding out for the best possible price.
Who else the Mirror has in mind remains something of a mystery, frustratingly. Having significantly strengthened our defence, we’d likely return to our pursuit of a marquee centre-forward. Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke is perhaps the heaviest linked player as things stand (via talkSPORT), although such rumours have gone very quiet recently.
Inter Milan’s Mateo Kovacic has also been regularly linked with a move to Merseyside (via the Liverpool Echo) and it’s plausible that we’d want to further strengthen our midfield after losing Steven Gerrard this summer.
Other than that, perhaps a new left-back would be welcome, with Alberto Moreno having endured a mixed first season at Anfield and Jose Enrique widely expected to leave (via the Daily Mail).
Regardless, it certainly looks set to be a busy summer!