Football Insider‘s Merseyside correspondent David Lynch has indicated how much Liverpool midfield transfer targets Khephren Thuram and Manu Kone could cost in transfer fees for the club.
In his most recent report on the duo, it’s stated that the Reds are ‘laying the groundwork’ to sign the two players and are in ‘preliminary talks’ with both as they seek to nail down the transfer cost and wages which would be required to land the French midfielders.
Having clinched a £35m deal for Alexis Mac Allister in recent days, the Premier League side are understood to be wary of paying over the odds for any further midfield signings as they also want to have sufficient funds to strengthen other areas of the squad.
According to Lynch, a ‘key recruitment source’ indicated that Kone could cost a similar fee to the Argentine, while Thuram could require a slightly superior sum to acquire.
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Some may look at fees of £35m or more for the French duo as a little excessive, given how Mac Allister was signed for that amount and, unlike those two, can boast a World Cup winner’s medal and proven Premier League quality.
Nonetheless, when taking a ‘bigger picture’ perspective, to potentially sign all three for little more than £105m has the makings of game-changing business for Liverpool.
It was no secret that the midfield needed an overhaul this summer, particularly after three long-serving options all departed at the end of their contracts, so to possibly reinvigorate that area of the pitch for roughly what Real Madrid could pay for Jude Bellingham alone would have to be regarded as a huge success.
Given the age profiles of the trio (Mac Allister 24, Thuram and Kone both 22), that could be the Reds’ starting midfield for the rest of the 2020s if all three stay at Anfield for the long-term and carve out a place in Jurgen Klopp’s first XI.
If that proves to be the case, rejuvenating an entire line of the team for approximately £110m-£120m and having that as the core for the remainder of the decade would be incredible work by the recruitment staff at Liverpool.