Reports: Liverpool Trying to Finalize a Deal for Christian Atsu

The rumors around potential summer transfers for Liverpool started in earnest the moment the final whistle blew to end Jamie Carragher's sendoff and the Premier League season; we didn't have to wait long for Luis Suarez exit talk to ramp up, and a number of inbound targets identified--remember Kyriakos Papadopoulos?--appeared to have some level of momentum behind them. One name that floated into the collective consciousness and then right back out was Christian Atsu, the Porto and Ghana winger who's now reportedly very close to making a £3m move to Liverpool.

We first talked about the potential for a move before May was out, as links to the player emerged along with the first rumblings around Luis Alberto. Discussion surrounding the fate of the Sevilla youngster has remained at the forefront, while Atsu seemed a tenuous link at best. With a number of other attacking targets linked to the club, there didn't appear to be a need for a player who'd spent the season in and out of his Porto side and failed to tally much in the way of attacking numbers.

That assumption was rubbished yesterday, as a number of outlets reported Liverpool's interest had actually led to something close to concrete, and that a deal was in (or very near) the closing stages. If true, it would make Atsu the third or fourth signing on the cusp of being confirmed, with Alberto, Iago Aspas, Simon Mignolet, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan somewhere in space and hopefully joining soon.

I don't know much more about Atsu than I did when we first discussed him, though LTB has been sharing some insight in the comments section from the original post (link above) as well as a post from yesterday, while also speculating that Atsu could serve as cover at left-back if needed. I have no idea if this is true, and all vitriol/disagreement should be directed his way. I'll take the praise, thanks.

A lack of knowledge doesn't mean we should avoid having an opinion (it's the foundation upon which the internet was built, you know), and I don't really understand the need if he's just a winger. He's essentially brought in for the same fee as Oussama Assaidi with little to prove he's going to bring more to the side than the rarely-used Moroccan. If he can cover at left-back that's swell, but my concern is that he's less of a challenge for a starting birth than Jose Enrique needs and still doesn't fill the need for an adaptable, proven fullback that can integrate into the side with little fuss should Enrique get injured or suffer another dip in form.

But we don't need to worry about any of that now, because video:

Video by MrBoyWunder