'Honestly' — Fabrizio Romano delivers update on two managers as Liverpool explore Klopp replacements

Reports surrounding Liverpool’s new manager continue to bounce off each other but as things stand, the Reds are not much closer to signing Jurgen Klopp’s replacement now than they were following his initial announcement back in January.

With former sporting director Michael Edwards now back at the club under a new role with Fenway Sports Group, he has the huge task of finding a candidate who can fit Klopp’s shoes. A number of names have been doing the rounds since January but the main three on the rumour mill have been Xabi Alonso, Roberto De Zerbi and Ruben Amorim.

Others have also been mentioned in the background but different sources continue to counter each other as Liverpool’s search continues. Ben Jacobs recently spoke with GiveMeSport about ‘not discounting’ Bologna boss Thiago Matto, however, Fabrizio Romano has not heard of anything concrete surrounding him, or free agent Niko Kovač either.

"Honestly, I didn't hear anything about these two names,” Romano also told GMS. “With Niko Kovač, nothing at all, and also with Thiago Motta. At the moment, I'm not getting anything concrete with Liverpool. He's [Motta] doing a fantastic job at Bologna, but at the moment I'm not hearing anything serious in terms of contact with English clubs in general."

Motta has received a lot of praise this season as Bologna currently sit fourth in the Serie A table. Since their promotion from Serie B in 2015, I Rossoblù have cracked the top ten on just two occasions and have not finished higher than ninth. They are well on their way to smashing that this season, with third place also still within reach.

Jacobs claimed in his initial update that the 41-year-old Motta should not be ignored, as Liverpool ‘love’ considering those who are excelling.

He said: “Thiago Motta is doing a brilliant job at Bologna, and Liverpool love candidates that have over performed based upon the resource available to them — so he cannot be discounted at this point, either.

“And when we say discounted, we’re talking about who is going to get to the final shortlist and who isn’t. And that’s what I mean about Liverpool — it’s a step-by-step process. This isn’t just ‘pick a candidate and offering them a job’, this is ‘pick multiple candidates and do interviews’, then offer someone the job.”