Liverpool

Liverpool

Premier League • England

Liverpool brush off Bellingham setback and plot marquee £50m signing of understated Napoli man instead

Stanislav Lobotka and Piotr Zielinski of Napoli

Liverpool have overcome the disappointment of falling behind Real Madrid and Manchester City in the race for Jude Bellingham and are instead hoping to engineer a deal for a Napoli midfielder, according to a report.

Bellingham has been Liverpool’s top transfer target for some time now. Manager Jurgen Klopp desperately needs a midfield overhaul to happen at Anfield and Bellingham would be an incredible signing to kickstart it.

Liverpool have previously been told that them not qualifying for next season’s Champions League should not be a problem, with the Englishman willing to play with them in a lower European competition for a year before pursuing major trophies the following campaign.

However, it is not a lack of Champions League football that is the issue for Klopp’s side. According to trusted reporter David Ornstein, it is ‘increasingly unlikely’ Bellingham will move to Liverpool this summer.

This is due to the ‘anticipated fee, the financial power of rival suitors and [Liverpool’s] reticence about entering a bidding war’. Instead, it appears Bellingham will sign for Real or City.

Clearly, missing out on this kind of huge transfer will frustrate Klopp and Liverpool. But they cannot feel sorry for themselves for too long as they still need to find suitable midfielders capable of elevating the team.

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And accordion to Italian outlet Calciomercatoweb, they have landed on Napoli star Stanislav Lobotka as an alternative.

The Slovakian is enjoying a brilliant season. He has played in every single one of Napoli’s matches this term, putting in some top midfield performances to help them challenge for Serie A and Champions League glory.

Liverpool eye top-class Napoli player

As per WhoScored, Lobotka registers more tackles per game (2.3) than any other Napoli player. This shows how important the defensive midfielder is to stopping opposition attacks and providing protection for the Napoli defence.

It is claimed Liverpool have decided to pursue Lobotka after admitting defeat in the Bellingham race. As Liverpool have already put money aside for Bellingham, they have plenty of cash to throw at Napoli to try and strike an agreement.

Reds officials believe £50million should do the trick. This is more than Lobotka’s £33.4m valuation on transfermarkt, so it could be tempting for Napoli. However, their owner Aurelio de Laurentiis is also braced for bids for some of his bigger stars, such as Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Kim Min-jae.

He will probably only sell one or two of Luciano Spalletti’s most important players so the team is not decimated. Therefore, Liverpool will be praying Lobotka is allowed to go rather than some of his team-mates.

Lobotka moving to Liverpool would cap off an intriguing career trajectory. He started out at AS Trencin in his native Slovakia, before moving to Ajax U21s on loan.

The 43-cap international did not quite make the grade at Ajax, so he went to Danish outfit FC Nordsjaelland. A move to Spain came next with Celta Vigo, where Lobotka made 90 appearances.

His big opportunity came when Napoli signed him in January 2020. Lobotka has not always been a regular starter in Naples, but he has gone from strength to strength this campaign and that could earn him a Liverpool switch.

Meanwhile, Tuesday’s Transfer Gossip claims a Liverpool flop could head to Manchester United in a surprise move.