Liverpool target flies to England to finalise deal as An agreement between Liverpool and the player is said to be close, and his agent will hope to agree the final details of the deal today...

An agreement between Liverpool and the player is said to be close, and his agent will hope to agree the final details of the deal today.

It’s been a thrilling few days in the sport of transfers, but the riveting battle to see which of Liverpool and Chelsea will pay the more ludicrous fee for Moisés Caicedo is over. After much soul-searching, the Ecuadorian has decided that Todd Boehly’s visionary strategy of bussing as much money as possible is too compelling to refuse, so will therefore move to Stamford Bridge. All that remains now is for Jürgen Klopp to fist-pump the Kop in the process of accepting defeat with his customary good grace.

Nor is that the end of things. Liverpool are still trying to sign Roméo Lavia from Southampton ­– but so are Chelsea, who have already registered an offer. At the time, £55m was the highest number Boehly could think of, but the Mill has full confidence that, if it comes to it, he can shout out something even sillier.

Consequently, Liverpool’s search for a holding midfielder continues, with Ibrahim Sangaré the latest to be advised that kicking a ball about in L4 is somehow more cosmically crucial than doing the exact same thing anywhere else in the world. PSV Eindhoven have already rejected an offer from Nottingham Forest, and there is now competition from Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, but Klopp will hope the guaranteed success those clubs offer is offset by the purple wheelie bin that will be his if he moves to Anfield.

Liverpool and Bayern continue to hold Ibrahim Sangare in mind this summer amid an ongoing search for a top holding midfielder.

PSV insider Rik Elfrink shared the news on X on Monday morning following the Reds’ failed attempt to land prominent Chelsea target Moises Caicedo.

It now looks the case that secondary target Romeo Lavia could follow suit after the Merseysiders briefly abandoned pursuit in favour of an opportunistic, last-ditch attempt to sign the Ecuadorian international.

Liverpool’s need for a genuine number six is not only blatantly obvious but to prolong the wait to replace Fabinho beyond our next league meeting with Bournemouth would be tantamount to gross negligence at this stage.

At 25 years of age (and available for a release clause of £32.3m), we can have no qualms over the Eredivisie star’s level of experience and seniority, so the only question that remains is whether we perceive him to be a sound fit for our system and the demands of the English top-flight.

According to stats shared on FB Ref, the Ivorian excels across a range of key metrics in offensive actions, possession-based stats and defensive actions, ranking in the 92nd, 91st and 77th percentiles for non-penalty xG, progressive passing and tackling respectively.