Atletico Madrid make Marcos Llorente available for transfer amid Liverpool interest
Spanish club Atletico Madrid’s failure to qualify for the Round of 16 in this season’s UEFA Champions League and their financial issues have basically cornered them into transfer listing one of their most important players and Liverpool target Marcos Llorente as per Mundo Deportivo (h/t Liverpool Echo)
This gives the Reds a huge boost in their pursuit of the 27-year-old attacking midfielder. Llorente is a proven European standard midfielder and would be much cheaper than the Reds’ priority target Jude Bellingham.
The Spaniard has not been in sublime form this season, and hence could be available for a much cheaper price than his market value. Liverpool could get their man for £35m according to Liverpool Echo, much cheaper than the touted £131m for Bellingham.
The highly-versatile midfielder has played at almost every position on the right side of the pitch under Atletico manager Diego Simeone. Primarily a right-sided midfielder, his desire to make runs could complement Thiago on the other side of the midfield.
Marcos at Merseyside
In 130 appearances for the Madrid-based club, he has 19 goals and 20 assists across all competitions. The Reds would know of at least two of those goals, as he scored twice in extra time to knock Liverpool out of the 2020 UEFA Champions League at Anfield.
Llorente, if he makes the move to Merseyside, will help reduce the squad age, and give the gaffer the freedom of having multiple choices with his versatility. At 27, he is in the prime of his footballing years, and hopefully, he could play out a few of them for Liverpool as well.
The Spain international is also in the reckoning to feature for his national team at the World Cup later this month in Qatar. A good performance from the player will inflate his price, and if the interest is real, Liverpool should look to seal negotiations as early as possible.
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Moreover, with the injury crisis at Liverpool, a move for a midfielder, and that too, of Llorente’s calibre makes a lot of sense, and hopefully, the deal comes through much to the delight of the Kopites.
