The Liverpool Echo believe that Porto forward Jackson Martinez is set to join AC Milan. That’s despite reported interest from both the Reds and Premier League rivals Arsenal, who are both after a new striker this summer.
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Martinez has invariably been linked with us during every transfer window for about the last two years, so perhaps those rumours will be finally put to bed by the Colombian sealing a switch to Italy.
The players’s seemingly imminent move to Milan – a struggling team who will be without European football next season – is perhaps evidence of the fact that no Premier League team was actually interested. However, if this does prove to be the case, you have to wonder whether we’ve missed a trick.
While Martinez might be 28 and expensive – with Milan thought to be paying his €35m buyout clause – would that have been a fair price for us to pay for a player that has scored 92 goals over the last three seasons?
It’s strange how certain teams are always linked with the same players. There is always at least one rumour that drags on all summer – with the tabloids constantly claiming a ‘deal is almost done’ or ‘about to be completed’.
The Echo compares the current situation regarding another rumoured Reds target, Mateo Kovacic, with that of Gaston Ramirez three summers ago. The Uruguayan midfielder eventually moved to Southampton and spent last season on loan at Hull City. While the evidence suggests that Kovacic would do better, should he move to England, we can’t help agree with the Echo’s suggestions that it might not happen.
Nonetheless, we’ve signed three new players already this summer, so let’s keep faith in the fact that more must be on the way. Unfortuntaely, Martinez won’t be one of them.