Man Utd not part of Saul race as Shaqiri boosts Liverpool’s hopes of buying Spaniard 💰
Man Utd not part of Saul race as Shaqiri boosts Liverpool’s hopes of buying Spaniard 💰
The Switzerland international could be the key to solving Liverpool's biggest problem this summer
It wasn’t that long ago when Saúl Ñíguez was all the rage in the transfer rumour mill, with publications lining up to discuss the latest update in the Liverpool-Barcelona-Atletico Madrid love triangle.
With a proposed swap deal of Antoine Griezmann in exchange for the Spain international now dead in the water, however, speculation has since dried up for the most part.
Until recently…
According to AS, Jurgen Klopp’s men are in the process of preparing a bid for the midfielder, with the Spanish outlet claiming that £41m would be the ticket to reaching an agreement with Atletico Madrid chiefs.
With Liverpool currently a player over the non-homegrown quota (18/17), however, there are some complications barring a potential move.
Having since purchased Rodrigo de Paul from Udinese, some have speculated that the midfielder has taken a tumble further down the pecking order, which could invite further interest from potential suitors.
The good news is that it likely won’t be Manchester United, despite the club being reported admirers of the 26-year-old, at least not for now.
Per an exclusive obtained by Stretty News, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s outfit is far from being involved in talks to obtain Saúl’s signature.
As far as Liverpool are concerned, the situation’s not quite as doom and gloom as social media would have you believe.
Assuming that Xherdan Shaqiri is destined for the exit door - an eventuality that both club and player are apparently happy to encourage - and that one of the likes of Loris Karius and co. are offloaded, space will open up in the non-homegrown quota.
On that basis, how feasible would a potential transfer be?
Even if we were to take a worst-case scenario and assume that our recruitment team is completely reliant on whatever the club manages to scrounge up in player sales, the picture that forms isn’t entirely discouraging.
Thus far, we’ve accumulated over £33m from the sales of Liam Millar, Kamil Grabara, Marko Grujic, Harry Wilson and Taiwo Awoniyi.
If Liverpool manage to sell the Switzerland international for his reported price tag of €10m (£8.5m), it’s interesting to note that the figure would take us just over the reported required threshold to secure Saúl Ñíguez’s signature.
Coincidence?
Quite probably. Particularly with it yet to be officially confirmed as to whether £41m would be enough to tempt Los Colchoneros into a deal.
That being said, £8m for a player of Shaqiri’s calibre - having since rescued his plummeting value with a positive European Championship campaign - seems suspiciously low when an asking price closer to £15m (as reported by Goal’s Neil Jones) was deemed more fitting.
It almost seems as if we’re rushing the player out of the door…
Conjecture aside, it’s an interesting few dots to connect, and potentially worth keeping an eye on, as Liverpool’s search for a quality Georginio Wijnaldum replacement continues.
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