Philippe Coutinho has finally secured his much-desired move to Barcelona for a staggering fee of £142 million.
Liverpool found it really hard to hold their star player at Anfield until the end of the season but the Brazilian managed to push through the move in January itself. And now Jurgen Klopp is left with a gaping hole in his front line and all the fans are urging the club to find a suitable replacement with all the money they have bagged from Coutinho’s transfer.
Yesterday just hours after Coutinho’s transfer to Barcelona was made official reports started coming out that Liverpool were looking at Riyad Mahrez as a possible replacement to the Brazilian. beIN Sport have also suggested that Algerian is scheduled to have a medical today.
But now Sky Sports are claiming that Liverpool are not interested in Riyad Mahrez.
Liverpool are set to receive £102 million upfront from Coutinho’s transfer and they will have no other option but to buy a replacement in January itself. Now with Riyad Mahrez seemingly out of the picture, it seems that the Reds will shift their focus to AS Monaco’s Thomas Lemar.
Lemar was close to joining Arsenal during the summer transfer window and the Gunners still hold a substantial interest in the player. But now Liverpool will surely shift gears and be more aggressive in bringing the Monaco winger to Anfield.
Last summer it was being reported that Arsenal were ready to pay £90 million for Lemar’s services so clearly, any Liverpool bid now will have to be more than that.
