Your Transfer Rumour is Bullshit: Liverpool Battle Inter Milan for Dalbert Henrique

Liverpool are intent on signing a left back this summer. That much is clear, though increasingly it has begun to look as though the club will move for a player meant to compete with James Milner for minutes at the position rather than for a clear upgrade on him.

For a time, though, it looked like they might spend big, when Monaco left back Benjamin Mendy’s move to Manchester City appeared up in the air and the talented 22-year-old became a target of opportunity. Now, though, Mendy is off the table, and Hull’s Andrew Robertson looks the likely choice.

Some people in France, though, have looked at the Mendy attempt failing and taken it as a chance to link another young Ligue 1 left back with a move to Anfield: OGC Nice’s 23-year-old Brazilian Dalbert Henrique, who is considered likely to end up at Inter Milan this summer.

According to Mercato365, though, Inter will face competition from Liverpool, who having missed out on Mendy could now swoop for Dalbert, using their financial might to steal the player away from the Italian club. A closer look at the rumour, though, makes its purpose clear.

Nice have put a €30M price tag on Dalbert, who has reportedly already agreed terms with Inter. Southampton may it call tapping up, but it really is just par for the course when any major transfer is agreed—you don’t bid tens of millions unless you’re already sure you can actually sign the player.

So far, though, Inter have been lowballing Nice with their offers. Or at least that’s how they see it. Now, a French outlet is claiming Liverpool are moving for the player, but that at least for the time being the club will continue to negotiate with Inter Milan.

In this case, it’s not the player or his agent or even adventurous rumour mongers linking Dalbert with a Liverpool move. In this case, it’s his current club, who are caught up in negotiations with Inter Milan and struggling to get the Italians to pay the desired transfer fee.

Liverpool will not sign Dalbert this summer. He likely isn’t even on any list of potential left back targets for the club. For Nice, though, Liverpool’s need for a left back and push to sign Mendy is an opportunity to float a plausible transfer rumour to aid their own negotiations.