It had been widely assumed that the Merseysiders were set to land young Englishman next year.
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Liverpool head coach Brendan Rodgers has admitted that the Premier League giants have no interest at all in signing up-and-coming Derby County midfield player Will Hughes when the winter transfer window opens again for business in the new year, despite much speculation of late suggesting otherwise, according to reports in the Guardian.
The highly rated young England Under-21 international has been heavily linked with the Merseysiders recently, with some even claiming that the Reds had already agreed a fee with the Championship outfit to sign Hughes at the turn of the year.
However, the Northern Irishman has now come out to clarify his club’s position in regard to this matter by stating that contrary to reports in the press, Liverpool do not have any agreement in place to bring the 18-year-old to Anfield in January, before going on to claim that all the media speculation is unfair on someone so young.
Meanwhile, Rodgers also suggested that in his opinion, Hughes should further his education by remaining with the Rams for the rest of this current campaign rather than moving to a Premier League club in January.
“I never normally say anything about players but I do really feel for this young guy,” said Rodgers in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Merseyside derby this weekend.
“It is something which has been ongoing and I don’t normally comment on speculation but I will because I have the interest of the player at heart.
“This is a kid who, if he picks up the paper every weekend, sees he is linked with coming to Liverpool. This is a very talented young player but either some person or a group of people aren’t doing him any favours whatsoever by constantly linking him with coming to Liverpool.
“I read we had put in a bid or something had been agreed and there is nothing further from the truth. There is no bid. There has been nothing.
“This is a young kid learning the game, he is at an outstanding club at Derby, he has a great manager there and we sent one of our young players [Andre Wisdom] there to develop and learn. I think Will Hughes is a wonderful young talent who just needs to play football and for me he is probably at the best place he could be. We are always looking for talent – young players, senior players, and he along with many other players is probably one we’ve looked at.”