Rumour Mongering: Liverpool Want Lascelles, Maguire, or Tarkowski

Half the Premier League’s centre halves could be heading to Anfield if you believe the rumours.

Liverpool headed into the summer looking to overhaul midfield, bringing in Naby Keïta a year after securing him on a delayed deal, quickly replacing Emre Can with Fabinho, and still needing to find their belated replacement for the departed Philippe Coutinho.

Add in a bit of attacking depth and a new goalkeeper and, the consensus was, that would about do it barring any unexpected outgoings. But now, according to The Guardian, the Reds seemingly are in the market to sign half the centre halves in the Premier League.

Newcastle’s Jamaal Lascelles, Burnley’s James Tarkowski, and Leicester City’s Harry Maguire are all said to be targets for Jürgen Klopp—and the common theme appears to be that all three are English-born players who have looked decent for their mid-table sides.

Such rumours, though, should be taken with a grain of salt. Despite the rumour coming from a broadsheet, it’s not from a journalist with a record of insight into Liverpool, and the names are too scattershot for the information to be coming from the players’ end.

Then, after linking Liverpool with Lascelles, Tarkowski, and Maguire, The Guardian claim Jack Butland is Liverpool’s first choice goalkeeper target. This is not the case—journalists with ties to the club shot down Butland speculation as “nonsense” early in the summer.

Taken together, it seems safe for now to dismiss such talk as tabloid-tier speculation by someone with no insight into Liverpool’s actually summer plans—even if, coming from an outlet like The Guardian, some might be inclined to credit it with some legitimacy.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com