Monday was a day of transfer mayhem for Liverpool, who ended up going around Europe trying to sign a centre-back.
Keeping the severity of Joel Matip’s injury a secret until after announcing both Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak, the Reds got both for a combined fee of around €5m, with the latter then potentially joining permanently for an extra €30m.
That showed the need Liverpool had to bolster their defence following the long-term injuries to Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez, and they were prepared to go as high as €57m for one of their targets.
That’s according to Sport Mediaset, who claim Juventus were presented with that offer for Merih Demiral from Anfield.
Described as a ‘monster offer’, the bid was aimed at convincing the Serie A side to part ways with one of their more promising defenders, but Fabio Paratici simply said no.
Both Juventus and Andrea Pirlo appreciate Demiral, and with an already ageing defence, Matthijs De Ligt aside, there’s a need to keep him around.
That’s when Liverpool turned their attention to Kabak, whom it seems wasn’t their first choice.
Then again, beggars can’t be choosers.
