Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has claimed Liverpool are not seeking a move for Thomas Lemar. On Saturday, Liverpool put an end to the long-running saga of Philippe Coutinho by announcing they had agreed on a deal worth £142million with Barcelona.
The La Liga giants, who wanted the Brazilian since last summer, have finally acquired their no.1 target. The fee is the biggest ever received by a British club – as well as the biggest ever paid by a Spanish one. The Reds will receive £102m up front with another £40m on performance-based add-ons.
Jurgen Klopp and co. are under immense pressure from fans already to reinvest the money from Coutinho’s sale to bring in sufficient replacement. The Reds, however, are reportedly prepared to move quickly to fill the breach left by Coutinho’s departure by bringing in AS Monaco midfielder Thomas Lemar.
Liverpool were keen on signing the French international on deadline day last summer but couldn’t agree on a deal with the Ligue 1 side. Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim this week revealed they had no intention of parting with Lemar before the end of the season.
Jardim said: “Monaco are not in the habit of making big sales in the winter. It’s our strategy. The players understand and they know how it goes here.”
Klopp, though, remains an admirer of the 22-year-old attacker, who has also previously attracted interest from Arsenal. However, Balague has insisted that the Merseyside outfit were never interested in the Frenchman and never considered bidding for him.
“Liverpool are not looking actively for a replacement,” Balague said on his YouTube channel.
“Thomas Lemar is not someone they’ve shown interest in – not even in the summer. They tried Keita to see if he could come earlier but that’s a no-go.
“So they are not actively searching for a replacement for Coutinho.”
Balague is a reliable source of exclusive information on transfers and when he says our club are not interested in Lemar, then the story definitely has substance.
However, Klopp is keeping his options open, although suggestions that our club are chasing a deal for Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez are premature.
