We reported on Tuesday that Italian newspaper Gazzetta believed Liverpool were prepared to offer Juventus €60 million (£45m) for their Spanish striker Alvaro Morata.
The Old Lady have so far refused to sell the 23-year-old who scored important goals in their Champions League semi-final success over Real Madrid last season.
Morata hasn’t had much luck in Serie A so far this season, with only one goal in his 18 games (8 starts), but does have two goals in his 6 Champions League group stage matches.
The reigning Italian champions are loaded with talent up front. Top scorer is summer signing Paulo Dybala who looks like the next best thing. Mario Mandzukic scores goals wherever he goes. Morata is almost the third choice striker in a formation that often accommodates only one.
Juventus also have Simone Zaza but he’s not a frequent goalscorer and we wouldn’t expect him to be at the club at the start of next season with the transfer speculation surrounding his future.
So can Liverpool force Juventus to cash in on their highly-rated Spaniard? With £45 million already rejected, one has to wonder how much more the Reds would need to increase their offer by.
Real Madrid allowed him to join the Turin-based club for a mere €20 million only 18 months ago and now the club have the choice of cashing in for a huge gain or developing him into one of the best in the world.
Reading the newspapers and the Liverpool transfer news sections in particular, it would appear Jurgen Klopp will need to go elsewhere for a new striker.
On New Year’s Day it was speculated that the Reds Boss may be bringing back Mario Balotelli from his loan at AC Milan – that’s the last place to go for a striker. The Italian was not interested in playing at Anfield when we had him first time around.
One thing is for sure though – Klopp appears to have given up on Daniel Sturridge after being on the sidelines for the best part of 18 months. The England international has turned out to be too much of a liability in the injury department.
Another striker the German coach appears to be losing faith in is Christian Benteke. The big summer signing was wasteful once again yesterday evening in our FA Cup victory over Exeter City. Couldn’t help but think Sturridge would have grabbed a hat-trick with the opportunities Benteke saw last night.
Divock Origi is still young and raw. The youngster would certainly benefit from spending the second half of the season out on loan, perhaps in the Championship or Ligue 1.
Klopp has yet to see Danny Ings who doesn’t look like he’ll be fit until next season now. From the games he did play earlier this season I’d certainly like to keep him around.
With Alvaro Morata likely to stay at Juventus – which striker would you like to see Liverpool purchase this month or over the summer?