Liverpool pushing to sign ELITE playmaker with Wolves to fund deal with record-breaking Anfield raid

Liverpool face a difficult decision over whether to keep Harvey Elliott this summer with Wolves prepared to make a club-record offer to prise the player away from Anfield and the Reds reported to be pushing hard to sign a world-class international replacement.

Vitor Pereira has done a sterling job at Molineux since replacing the sacked Gary O’Neil, steering the Old Gold from the depths of relegation trouble and nearer the heights of mid-table, with a colossal 19 points now separating Wolves from the relegation zone. With a win percentage record of a hugely impressive 54.55% over his 22 games in charge, the Black Country side believe they now have a man at the helm more than capable of helping them progress further.

However, the battles that lie ahead look set to be even tougher with the leading player and talisman, Matheus Cunha, now on the cusp of finalising a move to Manchester United. The Brazilian, the club’s record £44m signing from Atletico Madrid in January 2023, is understood to have greenlit the move to Old Trafford after they triggered the £62.5m release clause in his deal.

Finding a replacement who can replicate the 23 goal contributions (17 scored, six assists) Cunha has delivered this season will be far from easy and getting that right will undoubtedly be key to Wolves’ chances of building on Pereira’s success so far.

And according to the latest reports, the Wolves board have now identified Liverpool star Elliott as that man – and hope a big promise to the player can convince him to ditch Anfield for Molineux.

Per Givemesport, Wolves are prepared to launch a club-record £45m bid for Elliott, with add-ons potentially taking the move soaring through the £50m mark.

However, competition for the 22-year-old – who has found first-team chances hard to come by this season and having failed to make the most of a rare start when it came his way against Chelsea on Sunday – is tough, with Bayer Leverkusen also reportedly on his trail.

Furthermore, information received by TEAMtalk has confirmed that Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is also particularly keen on the player and has also outlined him as a major summer target.

As for Liverpool, they plan to spend that windfall on the player on a top-quality replacement of their own and reports on Monday revealed moves are being made ‘behind the scenes’ to bring in Xavi Simons to Anfield, with details of the costs needed to secure his signing – and the three stars who can convince him to move to Anfield – coming to light.

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Liverpool’s stance on Harvey Elliott sale comes to light

And the good news for Wolves is that Slot and the Liverpool board are understood to be very much open to Elliott’s sale.

Limited to just 258 minutes of Premier League action this season, and just one of those from the start – at Chelsea on Sunday – Elliott is a long way down Slot’s pecking order and has done little to convince the Liverpool boss he is worthy of more regular starts.

Elliott himself, speaking in an interview with the Liverpool Echo, has himself admitted that an exit is not out the question, though has made clear any decision could be taken out of his hands.

“I hope that I can push on [next season],” Elliott said, who went on to explain his wish to ‘fight’ for his Liverpool future.

“This is my team, I am committed to them and it’s just a situation that is always going to have a lot of talk, I just need to think about what is best for my future, my career and as much as I want it to be here.

“You never know what is going to happen around the corner. If I had it my way, that would be here, I would play each and every game here and stay here for the rest of my career but it all depends on managers, the people above and as I said you don’t know what could happen but as far as I am aware I am here, here to stay and this is the club I want to be at.”

Liverpool chasing elite Elliott replacement; right-back bid imminent

With Liverpool ready to cash in on the former Fulham star, a report on Monday revealed the Reds have already identified Xavi Simons as their preferred replacement to come in – though the Reds will likely need to raise their opening offer to RB Leipzig for the Netherlands star.

Simons might not be the only Dutch star to arrive at Anfield this summer, amid strong claims on Tuesday morning that a big opening offer is also being prepped for Jeremie Frimpong – with the Bayer Leverkusen star one of four players on Richard Hughes’ shortlist to replace the exit-bound Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Elsewhere, Slot – armed with what has been described as a ‘transfer warchest’ – has reportedly narrowed his striker wishlist down to three names with a trio of elite European-based stars all on their radar to come and bolster their forward line this summer.

Despite that, Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler believes his former club should break with tradition and sign an experienced 18-cap England frontman to lead their attack next season, having explained why Slot will have to reluctantly walk away from a deal for Newcastle’s Alexander Isak.

Harvey Elliott’s stats for Liverpool in recent seasons