Nicolo Barella is a player reportedly long admired by Liverpool (Echo), though it now looks increasingly likely he’ll never make a switch to Merseyside.
Fabrizio Romano now relayed comments from Inter director Piero Ausilio on X (formerly Twitter) confirming that Inter Milan are ‘close to extending’ the 27-year-old’s contract.
⚫️🔵 Inter director Ausilio: “We are close to extending Nicolò Barella’s contract, it could happen even before Lautaro’s extension”.
“We are advancing for Lautaro’s new deal, it takes time and we are in talks but both parties want the same”, told Libero. pic.twitter.com/ItmfSgZW1W
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 8, 2024
The Serie A outfit secured their first title under Simone Inzaghi this term and their sixth piece of silverware overall under the former Lazio footballer’s reign.
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The end of the Barella dream?
Fragile as it may have been to begin with, it seems we’re destined to never witness the Italian plying his trade at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp once admitted it was a significant advantage for Barella to be out injured for our Champions League round of 16 clash with Inter Milan.
“He’s a really good player, a really good player and I like him a lot,” the German had gone on to add (via Tribal Football).
Though exceptions can and have been made as far as sheer quality is concerned, we were always unlikely to break the bank for a player beyond the accepted age profile for a Liverpool signing.
Still, at least we could always fantasise about the prospect of adding the box-to-box sensation to our midfield.
It’s not all bad news of course when we’ve now got a midfield containing the likes of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Harvey Elliott!