Liverpool must pay £25m for Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal, but have so far bid short [Gazzetta dello Sport]

The Daily Express have intriguingly claimed that Liverpool have made an opening offer for Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal, believed to be worth in the region of £14m – but The Old Lady want much more.

SEE MORE:
Six potential replacements for wantaway Sterling: including Real Madrid man and Borussia Dortmund forward
How Liverpool could line-up next season, without departing Steven Gerrard and wantaway Raheem Sterling
Liverpool transfer news

According to the Daily Mirror, the Champions League finalists will not settle for less than £25m for the 27-year-old, who joined them from Bayer Leverkusen back in 2011.

Vidal was a major target for Manchester United last summer – as the Mirror explains – but Louis van Gaal has since cooled his interest in the Chilean international and seems unlikely to revive it this summer.

That has left the door open for Liverpool, who have also been linked with Vidal’s Juventus teammate, Andrea Pirlo by Gazzetta dello Sport (via the Mirror). Brendan Rodgers is currently pursuing a replacement for outgoing captain Steven Gerrard and both players would certainly go down well with the Anfield faithful.

Unfortunately, we all know better than to read too much into these kind of tabloid rumours. The player himself has only recently spoken about his love for Juventus and his desire to spend many more years in Turin.

“Turin feels like home,” he said, in quotes taken by the Mirror. “The people are very warm and passionate, very Latin, similar to in Chile. They say hello when I walk down the street. I could stay in Turin for my whole life.”

Let’s hope that the Reds step up in their interest in at least one of these potential midfield candidates when the season comes to an end. With only Jordan Henderson, Joe Allen and Lucas Leiva currently on the books in terms of established midfield players (with Gerrard departing…), we definitely need someone in before the start of our next campaign.

Vidal would be a brilliant, brilliant signing – but it’s mightily ambitious.