Fabrizio Romano discusses ‘very important’ factor for Liverpool to sign new La Liga target after Klopp interest emerges

Fabrizio Romano has issued a response after Liverpool were linked with a move for Athletic Bilbao midfielder Oihan Sancet recently.

Sancet spent time in the Osasuna youth setup before joining Athletic’s academy in summer 2015. He graduated to their senior squad in 2020 and has gone on to make 101 first-team appearances since then, registering 16 goals and seven assists.

The playmaker recently bagged a hat-trick against Cadiz as Athletic ran out 4-1 winners in their league clash. This top performance alerted some Premier League clubs to Sancet’s ability.

On Sunday, Spanish outlet AS revealed Liverpool hold an interest in the 22-year-old alongside his Athletic team-mate Nico Williams, who usually operates as a right winger.

However, Liverpool are not the only club to be looking at the La Liga duo. Unai Emery is a fan of them too and he reportedly hopes Aston Villa can strike a deal first.

And Chelsea, as with most players, are apparently admirers of Sancet and Williams.

Romano has now weighed in on the transfer rumours during an interview with CaughtOffside. It seems Liverpool, Villa and Chelsea fans should not get too excited about their respective clubs bidding for Sancet, as the journalist does not think there are any discussions going on at the moment.

However, he did speak about a ‘very important’ factor which Liverpool, Villa and Chelsea will all be taking note of.

Trusted reporter downplays Liverpool rumours

“Despite the stories about Oihan Sancet, I’m not aware of any negotiation with Liverpool or Chelsea as of now,” Romano declared.

“I think he’s very good player, but price tag is always very important with Athletic so it’s never easy to negotiate with them.”

transfermarkt rate Sancet at €20million (£18m), so maybe Liverpool began looking at him as a cheaper midfield signing compared to Jude Bellingham or Matheus Nunes.

However, as Romano says, Athletic will only allow their best players to leave for the right price. As such, there is a good chance they will end up putting Sancet’s valuation at way higher than £18m.

This is not the first Liverpool midfield update to emerge on Tuesday. Italian reporter Rudy Galetti has spoken about the Reds potentially going after Brighton ace Moises Caicedo.

“Klopp requested a midfielder already in January and the list for the summer to date is practically the same,” he said. “Moises Caicedo is under the Liverpool radar.”

As with Sancet and Athletic though, Brighton rate Caicedo very highly. They rejected Arsenal’s second bid worth £70m late in the January transfer window.

The Seagulls’ stance will soften slightly come the summer. But Liverpool would still have to offer in excess of £70m to land the Ecuadorian.

It will be intriguing to see which midfielder, or midfielders, Jurgen Klopp manages to capture at the end of the season.

For Liverpool fans, such transfers will simply be a relief. The club has neglected the area for far too long and they are now paying the price.

Despite this, concern is now growing about another part of Klopp’s team which is ‘all over the place’.