Liverpool cool interest in second player after Bellingham u-turn as alternative targets identified

Liverpool have reportedly ‘cooled’ their interest in another midfield star thought to have been a target this summer.

Matheus Nunes has followed a similar fate to Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham, with the Reds instead having identified the likes of Nicolo Barella, Ryan Gravenberch, Teun Koopmeiners, Luka Sucic and Mason Mount as viable options to explore.

“As for Liverpool, they are well aware of the need for a significant overhaul of their midfield options this summer, and with Champions League football unlikely next season, and Bellingham now seemingly a no-go, the Reds face a major challenge to bring in the kind of quality required to help the club bounce back from what has so far been an appalling campaign,” Neil Jones wrote for GOAL.

“They are keen to sign Chelsea’s Mason Mount, while interest in Wolves’ Matheus Nunes is understood to have cooled.

“Nicolo Barella of Inter Milan, Ryan Gravenberch of Bayern Munich and Atalanta’s Teun Koopmeiners are all admired, as is Luka Sucic of Salzburg.”

Our interest in the Chelsea man, in particular, has been well-documented and would most certainly be a shrewd addition to the squad if Jurgen Klopp’s outfit could negotiate the Blues’ asking price below the £70m mark.

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Whilst we can most certainly appreciate the clear need for numbers as much as quality given the scale of the rebuild clearly needed in the middle of the park, we’re struggling to understand how our recruitment strategy could be so openly poor.

To have gone from bidding for the England prodigy to withdrawing from the race isn’t just bad PR – it looks, to the outside world, like Liverpool simply don’t have a clue and, worse, haven’t had a clue about what they’re doing in the midfield department for years.

Ultimately, it was made abundantly clear that the Reds forewent alternative targets to stick to the strategy of pursuing our No.1 target in Bellingham.

To have not bought a senior midfielder in over four years and now pulled out of the race to sign a generational midfield talent is, quite frankly, inexcusable in our eyes and the club now faces a mammoth task to bring in the kind of quality that will both get fans back on side and the club competing for silverware again.

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