Rumour Mongering: Reds To Offer Joe Gomez And Cash For Lazio Midfielder

With Liverpool in need of at least one midfield signing in the next set of transfer windows and the Jude Bellingham sweepstakes heating up, the football rumour mill is looking for alternative options for the Reds. The latest of those options is Lazio’s Sergej Milinković-Savić. According to Italian outlet CMW, Liverpool are ready to battle it out with Juventus, Manchester United, and Chelsea for the Serbian’s signature.

Milinković-Savić has been a staple in the middle of the park for the Lazio since the 2015-16 season, and they are prepared to demand a premium if they are to agree to let him leave Rome. According to the report, they will not budge from their valuation of €70M.

Up until this point, it seems reasonable that Liverpool could be in on a player who has racked up 62 goals and 56 assists over 305 appearances for the Italian side, but the proposed deal doesn’t seem to make much sense upon closer inspection.

CMW claims the Reds plan to launch a bid that would see Milinković-Savić come to Anfield in exchange for Joe Gomez and at least €35M in cash to meet Lazio’s demands. While rumour-mongers love to talk about possible swap deals, they rarely come to pass, and it doesn’t make much sense for Liverpool or Gomez to agree to such a deal after Gomez signed a new five-year contract this summer.

Additionally, the midfielder’s age raises questions about the possibility of Liverpool being interested at all. At 27, Milinković-Savić is certainly not old and is likely in his prime, but that doesn’t seem to fit the age profile Liverpool are likely to be targeting for their next premium midfield signing. The Reds have not shied away from signing players in their prime in the past, but at present, they are very clearly going through a transitional phase with the goal of bringing in a new generation of talent to phase out an aging core of players.

A 27-year-old doesn’t raise the squad’s average age, but it doesn’t help to lower it either. The Lazio man could likely give LFC a few good years before any decline starts to show, but he just does not seem to fit the bill of a young, promising talent who can anchor Klopp’s midfield for the foreseeable future.

Now, that certainly doesn’t mean a move for Milinković-Savić should be written off as an impossibility, but it would take much more serious links from LFC-connected journalists to really believe the Reds have an interest.