🚨Exclusive🚨: Jacque Talbot's Liverpool transfers update: Liverpool & Newcastle in for Kone, Thuram latest, likelihood of Lavia move... and more!

Plenty of names left on the board for Liverpool ahead Alexis Mac Allister's impending switch to Anfield. We invited Football Transfers' Jacque Talbot for a quick chat on the names that keep sticking!

[From left to right: Khephren Thuram, Manu Kone and Orkun Kokcu]

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Pretty good season for Daichi Kamada this year. We saw you covered a story reported on by Calciomercato about Liverpool potentially swooping in for his signature… makes sense financially but would Liverpool go for him?

It was a strange story that came out of Italy. He’s about to sign for AC Milan and then an Italian outlet… Calciomercato can get some stuff right but they’re not the most reliable but they can get it right when it concerns Italian transfers. They’ve come in saying that Liverpool liked him. I think his agents probably told a couple of reporters that Liverpool were interested in order to secure a better wage.

He’s a free agent and I imagine his wage would be relatively minute in comparison to Premier League footballers. I know he did quite well in the Bundesliga, my colleague Ronan Murphy (who specialises in Bundesliga football) has said he’s not good enough for Liverpool. Probably a bit of a non-starter that one but supposed to be relatively good in that league.

One player who has attracted the attention of Liverpool fans and journalists alike is that of Manu Kone. We get the impression that talks aren’t quite as far ahead as for Nice’s Khephren Thuram?

Even last summer, I asked about him and there were a fair few Premier League clubs on the table for him (about 10 of them) and he’s done well again this season. He’s still a little bit raw, I think he’s certainly not quite yet at the same level as someone like Thuram.

Liverpool and Newcastle are at the table. I think Newcastle’s interest in Kone is quite heavy, which I’m quite happy about because we’ve been linked to Scott McTominay. For Kone, he’s certainly one Liverpool admire.

When you report talks, it’s quite common for preliminary meetings with players and agents to take place. It doesn’t give a huge indication of interest, it gives an indication of interest but not to a huge degree. Kone is certainly one of seven targets I’d say and the sounds are about Thuram being further ahead, with the player’s father, in particular, pushing for the move. The last thing I heard was that things have advanced. Again, Newcastle are in for him as well, but for some reason the club’s recruitment is pushing for Premier League players.

Kone is quite raw still and I think €35m is what we reported in terms of asking price back in January, it’s all dependent on the amount of proposals on the table. €35m will get them at the table - that figure was ratified by SportBILD this week. Relatively cheap. High ceiling, 22 years old, ticks a lot of boxes… probably a bit more of an element of risk, though, when it comes to getting off the mark in comparison to Thuram.

Do you get the sense that it’s an either/or situation for Liverpool when it comes to the pursuit of Khephren Thuram and Manu Kone? Or will the club look to snap up both?

I would imagine Liverpool are looking to overhaul the midfield, they’ve got Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain leaving, James Milner leaving - they need to bring in some fresh blood. I certainly believe they’d be open to bringing both players in and Alexis Mac Allister looks like it’s pretty much there as well. Again, though, you know what the transfer market’s like; there could be the intent to get both and then it just turns out to be one, or none. But I would certainly put much more credence into Thuram coming than Kone at this point, because I think other Premier League clubs might look at Kone. But certainly both of them; I don’t think it would be the case they sign Thuram and don’t go for Kone, I think it would be both.

Feyenoord’s Orkun Kokcu is understood to be highly-rated by Liverpool’s scouting department but could there be some conflict with the club’s character assessment in light of the player’s alleged right-wing views?

It’s something that was flagged to me. I don’t want to go into too much detail but he has been involved with extreme right-wing politics to some degree and it was more speculation on my part, he seems to be someone the recruitment department have high up on the list in terms of analysis and data.

We know how Liverpool are, it’s not just about the talent; you can have all the talent in the world but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be conducive to how the club operates and the philosophy of Liverpool, which has been part of the reason of why you’ve been so successful under Klopp.

He’s still among there in terms of names being looked at. Relatively cheap from Feyenoord, 22 years old. I haven’t heard of talks, only of admiration, particularly from the analytical side of things and his numbers and how he would fit in. Ultimately, Premier League clubs do need to appease the fanbase to varying degrees. If you’re a big Premier League club, you can’t just do a Brighton and scour the Ecuadorian second division for any gems. People would blow a fuse seeing their club getting four players for £3m each.

It’s an extreme example, but Liverpool can’t be seen just getting Kokcu done. They need to get a Mac Allister in as well as a Kokcu. So I feel that if Kokcu was to be done, it’s my personal opinion that you’d probably see a Mac Allister and another signing before you’d see Kokcu. I don’t think it’s one you’ll see wrapped up in a few weeks. It’s one to keep an eye on. The name’s there, he’s certainly liked.

Romeo Lavia is one name that has been mentioned in terms of Liverpool’s potential summer plans… what’s the latest you’ve been hearing about the Southampton man?

I think with Lavia, it’s kind of similar to Kokcu in that there’s an admiration for him. We broke the initial interest in late March, we heard a suggestion (Southampton want £50m as their asking price - it won’t be that, it will be closer to £40m, maybe even less than that) that Tyler Morton could be sold to Southampton to subsidise the overall fee.

Liverpool are more likely to get Thuram and Kone than Lavia at this point - that would be my guess. There’s certainly interest there, though. The only reason I say I guess is that, with such a pivotal season coming up, I wonder if Lavia’s experience might dissuade them. Saying that, he has had a really good Premier League season, he’s been the star performer for Southampton, despite them being relegated. He is tremendous, but as of hearing any more - nothing recently.

Ryan Gravenberch is one that keeps being linked with Liverpool. Another highly-rated talent who doesn’t seem to be getting that much game time in Munich… could you see this move happening?

He was the real deal at Ajax and then he’s gone there and hasn’t had the games. He’s still relatively young but I think his talent warrants a bit more. He’s been linked with Liverpool for a long time, hasn’t he? I don’t think we’ve exclusively heard anything on that, it’s been out there already.

What we saw was a lot of reports arrived in Germany saying Liverpool were interested, and then there have been others of Bayern flexing saying ‘we want to keep him next season’, which could be true but could also be a good way of raising his value a little bit. With the new manager in, that could change things.

I think Liverpool are looking at the major, major targets first, like Mac Allister who’s about to come in. Then, as the summer goes on, if there’s an opportunity to do a deal for a player like Gravenberch, that could happen as well. I think they will get three midfielders in this summer.

What’s the deal with Liverpool pulling out of the pursuit for Mason Mount’s signature this summer?

It’s the personal terms that have been done first; he’s probably been offered a bit more [by Manchester United] than what Liverpool were offering. Obviously, Champions League is also a factor as well. In terms of club size, and I know most will disagree, you kind of flip a coin for Liverpool and Manchester United. If one’s in the Champions League and the other isn’t you can see how it might work out that way.

In terms of the price that Chelsea have set for him - £80m, which is quite incredible! - if Manchester United weren’t at the table and it was August 20th and Liverpool made a £40m bid for Mason Mount, I think they would accept it.

From the sounds I’ve heard, Chelsea have flexed a lot on this in that, whilst they’re not happy to see him go, they’re putting up a bit more of a wall than they’re letting their reporters know. They know he’s going to leave and all they’re trying to do is extract maximum value for him by saying £80m - they know they’re not getting £80m for Mason Mount. But they have to publicly say it’s that much because they know the interest for Mason Mount is not going to dwindle, someone will make a move, which is why they’ve said £80m.

But then you’ll probably get Manchester United saying ‘well, okay, maybe not £80m, we think £50m, how about £60m?’ they shake hands and go about their ways. £60m for a player who hasn’t played many games this season, who is refusing a fresh deal and is into the last 12 months of his current deal. But that’s how you play the game with them.

Talks had been underway as far back as December. I can’t remember when Liverpool played them at Anfield and I think there were some conversations that took place, there were things in place, the project had been sold to Mount a long time ago. But Manchester United came in, Erik ten Hag pushes it and then it happens.

Apparently, Liverpool are being careful not to allow for a repeat of the Aurelien Tchouameni situation where a target goes and they have no-one there, because they did it last year. They prepared this time around, which is why we’re seeing Mac Allister getting done so thoroughly because, similar to how Mount was, they’ve done the selling of it, they’ve done the legwork to get someone of his calibre in. Basically, Mac Allister was always there as a bit of a fallback for Bellingham, in case Bellingham decided to go to Real Madrid.

They did something similar with Mason Mount but I’m not quite sure who’s in place. I mentioned before about Mohammed Kudus as well and that could be one who comes in for Mason Mount. The legwork was done with Mason Mount but his head was turned by Manchester United who came in strongly. I don’t think there are many other clubs he would have knocked Liverpool back for.

Thank you once again to Jacque Talbot, chief correspondent for Football Transfers, for taking the time to talk with us and make sure to give him a follow on his Twitter account @jac_talbot.

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