Green Light Received: Liverpool Ready To Sell Flop Attacker To Fund A Move For Brazilian Midfielder

Liverpool have been presented with an opportunity to sign Benfica midfielder Anderson Talisca, who is currently on loan at Besiktas. The 23-year-old had caught the eye of Liverpool several months ago, and it seems that the Reds will be making a move for the midfielder in the summer as they have received the green light from Benfica. The Portuguese outfit have hinted that they would be ready to sell the player given the right conditions.

Anderson Talisca moved to the Benfica in the summer of 2014 from Brazilian outfit EC Bahia. He had cost the club a substantial €4 million even back then. After having spent the last three years with the Portuguese club, he has been sent out on loan to Besiktas. It is believed that the Turkish outfit have the opportunity to make the move permanent by paying a fee of € 23 million. However, Besiktas president Fikret Orman says that the club simply do not have the budget to pay such an extravagant figure to a midfielder. He said:

“Besiktas do not have the budget to pay €23m, we will look at it.”

While Talisca may prefer staying in the Turkish league for the time being in order to get regular first-team football, the opportunity to play for Liverpool is huge. Over the years, there have been several players who have made the switch from Portuguese football to Liverpool with limited success. One of the first names that would come to the mind is Lazar Markovic.

The Serbian was one of the big money signings made by former manager Brendan Rodgers. He moved to the club from Benfica for around £20 million. Yet, he has been a major disappointment and has spent the last two seasons on loan at Fenerbahce, Sporting CP and now Hull City, where Markovic  has featured in seven league matches. He has scored one goal in these games.

And, the Serbian winger appears to have caught the attention of West Ham. West Ham boss Slaven Bilic is reportedly a huge fan of the player and he is ready to be around £16 million

for the player. Liverpool are considering the possibility of doing away with Markovic on a permanent basis. Selling him for £16 million to West Ham will provide the club with a substantial transfer of funds to reinvest into the squad. It is expected that these funds will go directly to the signing of Talisca.

Talisca has a contract with Benfica only until the summer of 2019 and the Portuguese outfit will want to make a decision on his future soon.