Liverpool’s chances of acquiring Julian Brandt this summer appear slim, with the 21-year-old German claiming he’d prefer to stay at Bayer Leverkusen where he’s guaranteed first-team football.
Jurgen Klopp desperately wanted the wonderkid winger, who we tried to sign in January, but Brandt’s own reluctance to switch could hamper our chances.
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Bayern Munich are also interested, but the youngster doesn’t want a transfer where he’d be sat on the bench.
“If you make a move, there’s no guarantee that you play,” he told Focus, translated by Goal.
“I think it is very important for me to play many matches next season and that’s what I can do in Leverkusen.
He also went on to criticise Leverkusen fans who’ve booed him for his apparent (but clearly untrue) decision to depart this summer…
“That has nothing to do with freedom of speech,” he said. “You can’t keep people from doing it, probably. There are many idiots in this world.”
It won’t be the first time Liverpool have openly targeted an exciting player, only to miss out. We also went for Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic last summer, but since, the American has extended his contract and is simply unattainable now following a wonderful campaign.
Liverpool are desperate for improvements in the wide areas though, so if Brandt’s staying put, we’ll turn our attentions elsewhere. Douglas Costa would fit the bill, with the Brazilian recently liking a spate of LFC-related posts on social media.