Jurgen Klopp is reportedly said to be ‘dreaming’ of landing Inter Milan’s Nicolo Barella in the upcoming summer window.
A report from InterLive.it (as relayed by Sport Witness) has clarified that it will take a fee no smaller than £61.9m to prise the Italian away from the Serie A.
It’s a situation that could force the German tactician to explore alternative options in the market, particularly should the Reds fail to secure the financial bump that comes with Champions League football.
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With Chelsea now understood to be prepared to mount another offensive in a bid to get Mason Mount tied down on a new contract, however, it may perhaps be in our best interests to keep things on standby with the Italian international.
It’s expected that we’ll be able to negotiate the Blues down from their rather exorbitant (in the context of the Englishman’s contract running out in 2024) asking price of £70m. Though, one might reasonably imagine that there won’t be a significant drop-off from the £61.9m that would allegedly be required to sign Barella.
In that sense – and bearing in mind how highly the 24-year-old ranks in Football Transfers’ similarity index for his Inter counterpart – it would be a far from poor strategy in our eyes to identify the 26-year-old as an alternative.
Provided that it doesn’t conflict with our need to meet the homegrown quota of course!