Rumour Mongering: Liverpool to Make £30M+ Off Pair of Lazio Transfers
Xherdan Shaqiri moving to Lazio to replace Luis Alberto would be a dream scenario for Liverpool.
After he turned in an impressive performance at Euro 2020 this summer, Liverpool hopes to cash in on Xherdan Shaqiri before the new season begins. One of the rumoured destinations for the Swiss attacker is Lazio, and as the Liverpool Echo points out, Shaqiri to Lazio could be the best-case scenario for the Reds.
This is thanks to a 30% sell-on clause Liverpool included in Luis Alberto’s £4m transfer to Lazio in 2016. In the five years since his move to Serie A, Alberto has emerged as a regular starter for Lazio. That, coupled with his desire to move on and failure to show up on time for Lazio’s preseason camp, has fueled recent speculation that the Roman club is seeking to move him for as much as £70m.
A transfer of that amount would result in Liverpool receiving somewhere in the neighborhood of £20m, courtesy of the sell-on clause. Where it gets more interesting is that Lazio would apparently like to replace Alberto with Shaqiri, which could net Liverpool another £12m if their demands are met.
Now, while this would be a perfect, lucrative situation for the Reds, it’s also not likely to happen given the latest reports out of Italy. According to Corriere dello Sport (via LazioNews24), Alberto has resigned himself to staying in Rome for the time being and patched things up with Lazio.
The report says that Lazio, like so many other clubs seeking big transfer fees in this Covid-affected transfer window, has been unable to find anyone willing to meet their asking price. Rather than continue to burn bridges hoping for an increasingly unlikely transfer, Alberto has decided to return to the fold.
Unfortunately, Shaqiri replacing Alberto and Liverpool walking away with another £30m to play with sounds more like a dream than a possibility at this point. There is still a fair chance Liverpool can move Shaqiri this summer, and Alberto could still fetch a big fee next year if the transfer market rebounds post-Covid, but we aren’t likely to see a Shaqiri-Alberto double payday.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
Post a Comment