Liverpool have been talked up as a potential destination for Mateo Kovacic in the summer by journalist Graeme Bailey.
The reporter has been hinting at the possibility of a mass exodus from Chelsea in the off-season as they demand ‘commitment’ from their players.
The Reds have been strongly linked with Mason Mount of late, and the Englishman mightn’t be the only Stamford Bridge star on FSG’s radar.
Speaking on 90min’s Talking Transfers Podcast, Bailey said: “Chelsea want commitment from their players and they have a lot of players. With Kovacic they’re hovering around talks for him, if he says no he could go this summer.
“Chelsea will be busy with ins and outs this summer. I think we’ll see an awful lot of departures. Kovacic for instance is an interesting one. We should keep an eye on him guys, he’s on the list of a lot of clubs, they’ll just want his wages gone and won’t ask for a huge fee.
“You could see Man City or Liverpool come in for him, they appreciate him, he’s a quality footballer. Keep an eye on him he could move across the top four just like Jorginho did.”
There’s plenty in what Bailey has said which might make a move for Kovacic a viable one for Liverpool.
The 28-year-old is earning £100,000 per week at Chelsea (FBref), with the Blues seemingly very eager to get that figure off their wage bill if they’re not even planning to hold out for a significant fee for a player valued at €34.6m (£30.5m) by Football Transfers.
Bailey also mentioned the west Londoners’ sale of Jorginho to Arsenal in January as an example of their openness to doing business with Premier League rivals.
However, they would likely view Liverpool as more direct competition than the table-topping Gunners at this moment in time, while the Italian’s departure may well have been sanctioned to make room for the £106.8m deadline day arrival of Enzo Fernandez.
Hailed as a ‘shining light’ by Micah Richards (BBC Sport, via football.london) and a ‘fantastic character’ who ‘looks like a wonderkid in training’ by his former boss Thomas Tuchel (Chelsea official website), Kovacic would be a tremendous coup for the Reds to pull off.
Jurgen Klopp will know all too well the danger the Croatian can pose from the wonder goal he scored against us last season, while the 28-year-old is an experienced operator who’s won some of the biggest prizes in European football from his time with the Blues and Real Madrid.
He’d no doubt make for an astute addition to our midfield, but whether Todd Boehly and co would be willing to let him move to Liverpool is another matter.