Dortmund ready to talk to Liverpool over future deal for £62m star

Liverpool have been boosted in their efforts to sign Christian Pulisic – after being tipped to strike an advanced deal just like they did with Naby Keita.

Guinean midfielder Keita finally joined the Reds in late June after Jurgen Klopp struck a deal with his then club, RB Leipzig, last summer, which saw the Merseysiders agree a fee up front with a ‘retainer’ on top.

Keita, Liverpool’s new No 8, has already expressed his wish to follow in Steven Gerrard’s footsteps at Anfield – and now the Reds look set to repeat the transfer trick with Pulisic.

Klopp is a long-term admirer of Pulisic, and while Dortmund are keen to keep him, it’s widely accepted they can’t retain his services for too much longer.

The player currently has two years left on his deal and it’s believed Liverpool could have success if they try to strike a deal now for next summer. A fee of £62million has been mooted in the German media and it’s been suggested Dortmund would be open to discussing a deal once they have it confirmed the player won’t commit to a new contract.

And German transfer expert Raphael Honigstein believes Liverpool may well try and lure Dortmund into a deal for Pulisic, which would go through in a year’s time.

The player currently has two years left on his deal and could be forced into action next summer – or risk losing him for nothing in 2020.

Pulisic produced a man-of-the-match display against Liverpool as Borussia Dortmund beat Jurgen Klopp’s men 3-1 in a pre-season friendly last month. And that prompted the Daily Mail to suggest that Real Madrid are watching the Dortmund youngster.

However, links with the Reds have rarely disappeared and the player’s father recently suggested the Premier League could be his next destination.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Mark Pulisic said: “There’s always change. You can think one thing, then you do it, and at the end of the day it wasn’t the right thing.

 

“Football is crazy. You have to go with the flow and make sure the player feels comfortable, whatever the decision is. There’s no magic formula. Is it right to stay at Dortmund? Who knows. Is it right to move to another club? He might think it is, or someone else might think it is, but it might not be in the player’s mind.

“The only thing we can do is continue to talk with him and make sure he’s always in the loop of what’s going on, present all the facts and the content of what can happen, or will happen. It’s up to the player to make that final call.

“The Premier League is a league where he’s always aspired to be in and play in. As a player nowadays, there are so few players staying at one club throughout a career, the chances of him moving to different clubs and leagues is a high probability.”