Liverpool deliver transfer blow to Chelsea as £75m claim made over target

Liverpool have once again made it through to the fourth round of the FA Cup despite an early scare from the League one side Shrewsbury.

After 27 minutes Shrewsbury’s Daniel Udoh managed a beautiful finish and sent one past Liverpool’s Kelleher and electrified what fans may have assumed to be a walkover for Liverpool.

However, Shrewsbury’s advantage did not last long as Liverpool’s Kaide Gordon was soon able to put one past Shrewsbury’s goalie Marosi.

Fabinho was then quickly able to send the Reds even further ahead thanks to a penalty for handball just before half-time.

Deep into the second half, Roberto Firmino was also able to add to the scoreboard before Fabinho added his second goal to the game in the third minute of added time.

Liverpool’s side has been severely Covid stricken of late and the side that faced the League one team contained five youngsters who were much more emphatic about beating the side that took them to a replay at Anfield two years ago.

Anfield has been closed due to the number of cases - Jurgen Klopp being one - and the start of the match exhibited the break Liverpool have been forced to have.

Currently sitting third in the league, one point behind Chelsea and 11 points off Manchester City, Liverpool have been seemingly fairly active in the January transfer window and will hope that their new transfers help them back to a winning streak in the Premier League.

Noise has been made surrounding Kenny Rocha Santos and Jarrod Bowen as well as reports being made that Jules Kounde has made a shock decision to sign with the Reds over Chelsea.

Here is all the latest on the Liverpool transfer news

Has Jules Kounde signed with Liverpool?

The Spanish newspaper El Nacional via TeamTalk has claimed that Liverpool are hoping to jump the gun over rivals Chelsea in the signing of the Sevilla centre-back.

Jurgen Klopp is apparently willing to activate the release clause which is worth around £75million in order to sign the French defender in the January window ahead of the west London club.

The Catalan news outlet has also suggested that Kounde has in fact accepted the offer already and is due to head to Anfield later this month.

Real Madrid and Chelsea have been the main clubs showing interest in the 23-year-old with Liverpool very much being on the sidelines, but it now would appear that they have come from behind and signed the hot topic of the transfer window.

Klopp has apparently requested the transfer in January rather than the summer for fears that the Frenchman will be quickly snapped up in the next transfer window.

Sevilla currently sits second in La Liga and Kounde has been an integral part of the success of the Spanish team.

Whoscored.com have given the defender a La Liga overall rating of 6.82 and a Champions League rating of 7.11 while he has enjoyed an overall pass percentage of 88.7%.

Will Liverpool sign Kenny Rocha Santos?

The Belgian First Division A player Rocha Santos has been attracting surprising attention from Liverpool and the Reds look to be in competition along with Porto and Feyenoord.

The Belgian news outlet Voetbal Flitsen, via HITC.com have suggested that the Cape Verdean player has been eyed up by Jurgen Klopp and his men and that his club, Oostende, would be seeking a fee of around £8.3 million.

The midfielder arrived at the Belgian side in the summer from Nancy before which he played for Saint-Etienne in their youth team and second XI.

He has made ten appearances for Oostende and it has taken a while for the player to become a valued member of the team, but he has recently stepped up to the mark significantly and subsequently attracted attention from around Europe.

Is Jarrod Bowen likely to move to Liverpool?

The latest news has reported that the West Ham winger, Jarrod Bowen, has become an attractive bid option for the Reds.

Anfield Watch, cited by West Ham News and Views’ Twitter page, has suggested that the winger may move to Anfield before the end of the month.

According to reports, it would take a bid of around £60million in order to sign the 25-year-old. The Hammers, who are currently sitting fifth in the Premier League, just one point off Arsenal in fourth, have had a superb 2021/22 season so far and would be unlikely to sell their winger for any less.

Bowen has made 82 appearances for West Ham’s first team since 2020 having come from Hereford United and Hull City. In his 19 Premier League appearances this season, he has scored three times and scored once in his two Europa League appearances. Whoscored.com are giving the 25-year-old from Leominster an overall player rating of 7.13.

As the twitter post suggests, Liverpool are merely keeping a careful watch on the player for the time being but the reports indicate that it could not be long before Bowen makes his debut at Anfield.

Liverpool’s next game is the postponed EFL Cup match against Arsenal on Thursday 13 January 2022. Kick off is 7.45pm GMT.