Liverpool Llorente Snub Reinforces Idea of Quiet Summer

The Reds reportedly passed on the former Real Madrid man this summer.

Despite plentiful resources, all signs point to the summer of 2019 being a quiet one on the transfer front for Liverpool. The Reds announced their first signing of the window today, the £1.3m acquisition of 17-year old Sepp van den Berg, who — despite considerable talent — is unlikely to make more than a handful appearances in the upcoming season, and club-connected journalists have practically confirmed that big-money purchases are not on the docket.

Further support for the idea popped up yesterday, as the agent of Marcos Llorente — a gifted central midfielder who recently made the £27m switch to Atlético Madrid from city rivals Real — claimed that the Merseysiders turned down the chance to sign the 24-year old a few weeks ago.

“I contacted several clubs to let them know what had happened, the conversation that Zidane and Marcos had,” Julio Llorente, Marcos’ agent and uncle, told Cadena SER.

“One of them was Liverpool, but Marcos’ position was covered and it wasn’t a priority. But Atlético are those who perhaps took the strongest step and convinced us. I think we’re right. I hope it’s like that, I hope Marcos does very well.”

Central midfield is indeed one of Liverpool’s best-stocked positions, with Jordan Henderson and Fabinho both comfortable in the deep CM spot preferred by Alonso, but with the captain turning 30 next year and the Spaniard available on a relative bargain, it would not be surprising if FSG’s predilection for exploiting market inefficiencies saw them pounce on the opportunity.

They did not, however, further reinforcing the notion that Jürgen Klopp is more than happy with the squad that earned a club-record number of points and won the Champions League last season. It is a stance that does not seem entirely unreasonable from the German, regardless of how badly we all want to see Kylian Mbappé and Timo Werner in red. One would argue that the manager has earned trust in his decisions.

Some fullback and frontline depth sure would be nice though.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com