Liverpool set to miss out on two key midfield targets amid latest priority update

Liverpool’s pursuit of Borussia Monchengladbach’s Manu Kone and Celta Vigo’s Gabri Veiga has been dealt a major blow as the transfer window begins to heat up.

The Reds are currently in the market for a midfielder to help revitalise a position which was certainly an area of weakness last season. Whilst we’ve already seen them lose out in deals for Chelsea’s Mason Mount and Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham, there’s still hope of securing a move for a less-established player who is at an early stage of their career.

In terms of their setbacks in question, Manchester City are said to interested in the signing of Veiga, despite completing a deal for Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic in recent days. However, they did attempt to move for another midfielder signing by matching Arsenal’s bid for Declan Rice, but pulled out when the Gunners tabled a bid in excess of £100m.

Guardiola seems set on bringing in another midfielder and there’s no doubt that City could complete a swift deal, it’s just whether Veiga is happy to not be a guaranteed starter as he is now. However, it’s unknown whether he would get that at Liverpool either.

Plus, if Chelsea lose Mason Mount they will also target Veiga to replace the midfielder - as reported by the Standard. Therefore, it just became far more difficult for Jurgen Klopp to secure another midfield target which is certainly something that has already become a regular occurrence.

In addition, last night saw Kone come off in the 19th minute and he left the stadium on crutches after suffering a knee injury with the France U21s. We are yet to discover the extent of the injury but it could prove to be a big blow to Liverpool’s pursuit given that pre-season starts in early-July. Florian Plettenberg speaking on Sky Germany also claimed Kone isn’t a high priority which lends itself to the theory that a deal is considered unlikely.

Jurgen Klopp has typically liked to get his business done early in the window to help bed new players into the squad, as we saw last season. However, until his diagnosis is confirmed for Kone we won’t know if a move can be ruled out - but it doesn’t look promising.

Their most likely cause of action would be to press forward with a move for Nice’s Khephren Thuram who has been widely reported as a key target and that deal could certainly be wrapped up when the player finishes playing in the U21 European Championships.