German side Hertha Berlin ‘no longer intend to sign’ Liverpool defender Nathaniel Phillips, despite reports in England stating that they are looking at him for the summer.
That’s according to BILD, who report that the Bundesliga club have a different plan in mine for the upcoming transfer window.
They explain that Hertha were ‘urgently looking’ for a strong centre-back in the January transfer window to improve a leaky defence and cover for the injured Agustin Rogel.
They initially tried to sign Jannik Vestergaard from Leicester and there was an agreement in place, but his wife was heavily pregnant at the time and banned from flying, leading the Dane to cancel the move.
Hertha then turned their interest to Phillips and wanted to loan him from Liverpool, but an injury to Ibrahima Konaté saw Jürgen Klopp block the exit.
That was seen as a shame in Hertha, who have had positive experiences when signing players from Klopp in the past and wanted to do it again with Phillips.
That, though, was were their interest in him ended according to BILD. They report that the German side ‘no longer intend’ to pursue the defender and will instead be bringing back Linus Gechter in the summer.
He’s been out on loan this season but they would prefer to bring him back and focus on home-grown players than sign Phillips from Liverpool.
As far as they’re concerned, any reports in England saying otherwise can be ignored and a deal won’t be happening in the coming months.
