Neil Jones suggested that a move for Sander Berge would be far from likely on Liverpool’s end, though admitted that it wasn’t an entirely impossible prospect were Naby Keita to leave for a ‘crazy offer’.
The 24-year-old midfielder, who currently plies his trade for Championship outfit Sheffield United, is rumoured to be a Reds target as the speculation remains ongoing around the club staying on the lookout for potential midfield reinforcements.
“He was linked with a lot of big clubs. There were a few at Genk at the time. Berge was probably the most high-profile of them,” the reliable journalist informed Redmen TV Plus.
“He is one of those players – you look at his pedigree and where he’s been linked in the past and you see him in the Championship and you think: ‘Surely you’ll be going a bit higher than that at some point?’
“Sheffield United to Liverpool is a huge jump. I don’t see Liverpool signing him personally, but he might be one, if he’s got a release clause or a desire to get out of Sheffield United and play in the Premier League. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a Premier League club that comes and takes him.
“Let’s say Keita left, a crazy offer came in, and Liverpool decided we need a player to fill a gap, maybe you could see it. I wouldn’t say Berge is going to replace Keita. I don’t see where he fits into Liverpool’s team straight away or even in the long term.”
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Jurgen Klopp has previously made clear that an emergency signing would be an unlikely event at Anfield (though the German had noted that further additions would be considered as a response to injuries or exits from the club).
Should Naby Keita depart the club this summer – again, a distinct unlikelihood if one refers to Neil Jones’ relevant report for Goal (not to mention Klopp’s comments on the matter in his pre-match presser) – one would imagine a replacement would be considered a priority given our current struggles in fielding a left-sided central midfielder.
According to our sources here at Empire of the Kop, we understand that there is at least a grain of truth in reports of our No.8’s unhappiness at Liverpool, which his agent, Bjorn Bezemer, deliberately leaked to journalists in Europe.
We’ll be hoping to avoid the need to dip into the market if it means signing a player of lesser quality compared to the Guinean international, however, particularly if the Berge isn’t high up on our shortlist of midfield targets as some suspect.