Unlike Stefan De Vrij, Kostas Manolas hasn’t exactly been linked with many Premier League clubs of late. That was more of a 2016 thing.
Bar a few rumours sending him to Arsenal and Chelsea (who bought Antonio Rüidger from AS Roma) that disappeared very quickly after they popped up, the Greek centre-back enjoyed a relatively stress free summer.
However, that didn’t stop the stories in Italy of him potentially getting a circa €35m clause in his new contract making their way to England, which immediately led to him being linked with the Blues, the Gunners and Liverpool.
The thing is, the Italian press haven’t ever seriously linked Liverpool with Manolas, and the report in the UK doing so suggests he would be a ‘great alternative for Virgil Van Dijk’, which is a basically them trying to create a link that has never been there.
On the other hand, the Italian press have, however, insisted on the fact Liverpool have taken an interest in Stefan De Vrij, who would probably end up being cheaper too, with claims his release clause, were he to sign a new deal at Lazio, would be around €25m.
Either that or he leaves on a free in the summer, which would be an extra win for the Merseyside club.
It’s all just very convenient, and it’s already spreading to Italy, with TuttoMercatoWeb already relaying the English article as if they had unearthed a new story, when, in fact, there actually isn’t one.
