Fabrizio Romano has ruled Liverpool and other English clubs out of the race for RB Leipzig’s Konrad Laimer as the player is now ‘waiting to sign the contracts’ for another side.
The Austrian midfielder is now almost certain to sign for Bayern Munich after making a ‘verbal agreement’ with the German outfit ahead of his contract expiring in 2023.
“Liverpool, they have left the race for Konrad Laimer,” the Caught Offside columnist spoke on his YouTube channel.
“The midfielder of Red Bull Leipzig. He was on the list last summer before signing Arthur Melo but there was no time to complete the agreement.
“With RB Leipzig they decided to keep the player and with Konrad Laimer nothing will happen with Liverpool or English clubs in general because there is an agreement ready with Bayern.
“Konrad Laimer – 99% waiting to sign the contracts – will be new Bayern player in 2023. There is a verbal agreement ready. Laimer wants Bayern. Nagelsmann wants Laimer.”
Amid the ongoing concerns around the Reds’ midfield, it’s a big blow to be losing such a cheap transfer option – previously linked to the Anfield-based club by Neil Jones – in the summer to one of their European rivals.
READ MORE: Fabrizio Romano drops worrying transfer update for Liverpool fans after injury blow
Fortunately, the search won’t stop there and we’re said to have our eyes on a number of alternative targets – including Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat (who has already shared his thoughts on the club during his time in Doha).
There are bargains still available in the market, though Julian Ward and his recruitment team will have some serious thinking to do with regard to our transfer strategy after a fresh knee concern ruled out Luis Diaz until March.
We’d expect the middle of the park to remain the top priority throughout the next two transfer windows regardless, given that Jurgen Klopp will likely be hesitant about the prospect of bringing in a new transfer only to bench them once the Colombian is fit and firing once more.