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Despite a willingness by Aston Villa to pay a fee in the region of £5M to sign veteran striker Rickie Lambert and a willingness on Liverpool’s part to entertain the idea of selling him at such a price, multiple reports now suggest any deal is unlikely. As a result, Rickie Lambert seems set to end the day as a Liverpool player.
The BBC, Liverpool Echo, and Sky Sports are all reporting that a deal is no longer likely at this stage, though it isn’t entirely clear yet why the move may have fallen through. Liverpool, though, did enter the day without any plans to sell Lambert, and even if the striker had departed, it is unlikely a replacement would have been brought it this window.
However, while the deal now does appear highly unlikely, it may not be entirely dead. There are suggestions Aston Villa’s £5M offer remains on the table, and that the West Midlands club remains hopeful that the situation may change over the final two hours of the transfer window. Lambert is likely to end the day still a Red, but that isn’t yet certain.
With that in mind, it seems likely the decision was left to Lambert as to whether he wanted to stay at Anfield as a squad player or move to Villa for the chance at regular minutes as a starter. He appears to have chosen to stay, and with that, one of the slowest transfer deadline days in Liverpool history appears set to end with a whimper of inactivity.
So far, the club’s only activity today has been to loan Sheyi Ojo to Wigan, while a loan for Ryan McLaughlin to Rotherham United remains on the cards. Liverpool’s only incoming player this window has been Jordon Ibe, who they recalled from Derby earlier in the month.
