After a season full of woe for Liverpool, where they’ve had to try out an extraordinary 18 different centre-back combinations in order to help get them though the campaign, news that one of their rivals may be close to securing a defensive target won’t be well received.
Jurgen Klopp has effectively been managing with one hand tied behind his back, given that almost every player installed in the heart of his back line during 2019/20 has got an injury at some stage or another.
The German was said to be unhappy that the Reds board wouldn’t back him when he identified Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly as a target, per The Sun, but that may have been as a result of a reported €100m fee to acquire him, reported by the Daily Mirror.
On Sunday, Tuttomercatoweb, citing Tuttosport, have noted that the player’s lawyer, Fali Ramadani, met with Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, to present a firm offer from German giants, Bayern Munich.
The issue for De Laurentiis is that €45m falls well short of his value of the player, but with Covid still ensuring that football clubs are taking a massive financial hit, he may be forced to part with Koulibaly.
That’s sure to get right under Klopp’s skin, particularly as Liverpool might’ve been enjoying a better second half to their campaign with Koulibaly in situ.