A potential transfer of Manu Kone to Liverpool is reportedly ‘very unlikely’.
This comes courtesy of a tweet from Sky German’s Florian Plettenberg, with the German journalist now claiming that the No.17 simply isn’t a ‘hot transfer target’ ‘at this stage’.
News #Koné: Been told a transfer to #LFC is very unlikely. Yes, he’s on a shortlist because of his interesting profile but not a hot transfer target for Liverpool at this stage.
For M‘Gladbach he’s still a top candidate for sale. But no concrete offers yet. @borussia demands… pic.twitter.com/Bgun99PfK9
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) June 10, 2023
The Merseysiders are understood to hold a number of central midfielders in varying states of high esteem, including the likes of Orkun Kokcu (now believed to be Benfica-bound) and Fulham’s Joao Palhinha.
READ MORE: After Kokcu: Liverpool could now lose out on another midfield target Klopp once praised
With Gladbach only demanding more than €30m (£25.6m) for the midfielder’s services this summer, we find it very hard to believe that Kone isn’t a ‘hot transfer target’.
Certainly, our understanding here at Empire of the Kop, is that the player remains of great interest to the Anfield hierarchy, though the pursuit of compatriot Khephren Thuram is, by contrast, more advanced.
Bearing that in mind, we reckon it could be the case that we’re merely looking to finalise a move for the latter of the two first before going full steam ahead to secure the Bundesliga-dwelling star’s signature.