21-year-old Liverpool / Manchester United Dream  defender signs new contract, attracting interest

 

Published 17th Aug 2023, 13:00 BST

The Liverpool-linked defender Gonaclo

Inácio is set to sign a new deal at Sporting,

amid interest from top clubs around Europe.

 

 

 

Inácio, 21, has built a strong reputation

during his time in Portugal and has been

linked with a move to a whole host of clubs

in Europe, including Liverpool.

 

The Reds had initially lined up a left-footed

centre-back as a key target this summer, not

only because the likes of Joel Matip and Joe

Gomez are unreliable injury-wise, but also

due to their new adapted formation and

tactics, which would benefit from having a

defender with Inácio’s make-up and attributes.

However, the Portuguese international is set

to sign a new five-year-deal, according to

Fabrizio Romano, which see his release

clause rise from their current fee of £38.5m.

 

 

 

Inácio is set to sign new deal at Sporting

after agreement was reached last night and

his new release clause will be set at €60m

(£51m). The likes of Newcastle United, PSG

and Manchester United are reportedly all

keen on acquiring his services as well.

Portuguese outlet Diario de Noticias, had

reported that Liverpool were ready to make

their move, despite Sporting’s wish to tie

him down to a new deal at the club.

 

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Their current focus seems to be on find a

solution to their midfield crisis, with reports

last night claiming that Wataru Endo is close

to completing a move to Anfield.

 

Plus, Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure is

also being linked with a move as they look

to sure up their defensive midfield role.

Matip’s current deal expires next summer

and it is likely the club will allow him to run

down his deal like they did with Roberto

Firmino, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-

Chamberlain and Naby Keita – which means

a defender could feasibly come in despite

already having four centre-backs in their squad.

 

Who is Wataru Endo? Age, career statistics &

latest on £16m Liverpool move

In terms of Inacio, he was a key figure for

Sporting last season playing 52 times and

scoring four times.

 

He’s emerged as one of the best young ball-

playing centre-backs in Europe and would

certainly be well-suited to playing under

Klopp, especially in this new system,

especially since Andy Robertson has

struggled to adapt to those new tactics.

Ranking in the 97th-99th percentiles for

progressive carries, passes attempted and

progressive passes puts him within the elite

for playing out from the back and strong,

agile frame combined with his passing

ability makes him an exciting defensive

prospect. He looks like a brilliant signing

waiting to happen, but midfield remains the focus for now.

 

READ MORE

 

Liverpool have been informed about the

conditions of a potential deal for Sofyan

Amrabat, a versatile and intelligent midfielder.

Liverpool faced setbacks in their pursuit of

other players, including failed bids for

Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo.

Amrabat has had an impressive year at

Fiorentina and showcased his skills in the

Qatar World Cup, drawing praise for his drive and leadership.

Footballfancast video of the day

 

Liverpool are now “informed” on what it

would take to complete a deal for a £32,000-

a-week star lauded for possessing

“footballing intelligence” as well as “drive”

and “leadership”, per transfers expert Fabrizio Romano.

 

Liverpool news – What’s the latest?

The last couple of weeks have been nothing

short of a disaster for the Reds regarding the transfer market.

The Merseysiders kicked things off by

making three failed bids for Southampton’s

Romeo Lavia as the south coast side refused

to budge on their £50m valuation of their star.

With that deal going nowhere, the six-time

European champions did something

unprecedented for the club.

They made a record-breaking bid of £111m

for Brighton & Hove Albion’s Moises

Caicedo, but despite the sides agreeing to on

the fee, the player himself snubbed the club,

opting to join Chelsea instead.

 

Things only got worse when the

Merseysiders returned with a £60m offer for

Lavia, only for the exact same thing to

happen, with the young Belgian choosing

Stamford Bridge over Anfield.

 

However, there has been some good news

recently as, according to Sky Sports, the club

have made a shock bid for Japanese

international and Stuttgart star Wataru

Endo for around £16m, which could rise to

£21m with bonuses.

And if that wasn’t good enough, the club

have also been linked to long-term

Manchester United target Sofyan Amrabat,

with transfers expert Fabrizio Romano

reporting that Liverpool have “called” the

player’s camp to learn more about a potential deal.

 

sofyan-amrabat-fiorentina-serie-a

He explained the situation on his YouTube channel, saying:

“Let’s follow the situation of Sofyan Amrabat

because we had rumours in the Dutch

media of Amrabat on his way to Liverpool.

From what I’m told, this is not the case today.

“What happened is that yesterday Liverpool,

in the night, called on Amrabat’s side to be

informed on the conditions of the deal so

Liverpool know how much it takes to sign

Sofyan Amrabat on the club side and on the player side.

 

“Now it’s on Liverpool, they didn’t submit a

bid for to Fiorentina, and they didn’t submit

a bid to the player so let’s see if Liverpool

will move for Amrabat or if they will go for another player.”

 

How good is Sofyan Amrabat?

It has been an unbelievable 12 months for

the 26-year-old, both domestically and

internationally. Domestically he was an

instrumental part of the Il Viola, making it

all the way to the Europa Conference League

final in June, and despite coming out on the

wrong side of the result, put in an excellent

performance for his team.

Despite losing 2-1, The National’s Liam

Wheeler gave the Moroccan international

an 8/10 for his battling display in the middle

of the park, describing him as an ‘important

cog in a well-oiled Fiorentina midfield that

refused to relinquish control’.

 

However, for as impressive as he was in the

Serie A side’s run to the final, the main

reason that the wider footballing world has

such a high opinion of the all-action

midfielder is thanks to his heroic efforts in

the Qatar World Cup that culminated in

Morocco making it to the semi-finals where

they lost a tightly fought game against France.

 

Amrabat-Fiorentina-Man-Utd-Scholes-Premier-League-transfer

The £32,000-a-week ace was immense for

the Atlas Lions, especially in defeat, with

former England international Stuart Pearce

waxing lyrical over the 6 foot 1 “monster”, saying:

His drive, his energy, his leadership,

everything that he stood for today, the

French didn’t have in their ranks.”

Described as “versatile” and possessing

genuine “footballing intelligence” by football

talent scout Jacek Kulig, if the Reds can

somehow hijack his proposed move to

United and bring him to Anfield, it wouldn’t

solve all of their problems, but it would

certainly go along way.