Liverpool reportedly want to sign Jonathan Tah next summer, and his wage demands don’t appear to be excessive.
The centre-back made 31 appearances for Bayer Leverkusen last season on his way to helping the club to lift the Bundesliga title without losing a single game, being hailed by his manager Xabi Alonso as ‘one of the world’s best defenders’ (Daily Express).
He’s now in the last year of his contract with the German champions and reportedly doesn’t want to extend his stay, with the likes of Inter Milan and Bayern Munich also interested.
According to Tuttomercatoweb, Tah is demanding an annual salary of €5m (£4.17m) per year, which equates to just under €95k (79.27) per week.
The report adds that this ‘opportunity would be too good to miss’ and that Inter could have the upper hand in negotiations as they’d be able to offer Tah a starting role, something he couldn’t be guaranteed at Liverpool or Bayern.
Tah would be a steal at that salary for Liverpool, but starting place not guaranteed
As per Spotrac, Liverpool’s highest-paid centre-back is Virgil van Dijk, who earns just over €263k (£220k) per week, while Ibrahima Konate is on around €84k (£70k) weekly. Jarell Quansah has just extended his deal and his new salary isn’t reported yet, although he was previously earning €18k (£15k) per week.
The Leverkusen man has considerably more experience playing at the top level than Liverpool’s second- and third-choice centre-backs.
Tah has made 363 appearances for the defending Bundesliga champions since signing for them in 2016 and averaged 3.1 clearances, 0.6 tackles and 0.7 interceptions per game last season (WhoScored) as his side won the league.
While Konate is a world-class centre-back who could lead Liverpool’s defence for years to come, it wouldn’t hurt the Reds to explore a move for the Germany international if the reported salary figure is true.
Also, with his contract expiring at the end of this season, the Merseysiders could potentially land him on a free, saving their transfer budget for some other top players!
However, it’s certainly not a guarantee that Tah would be an immediate starter for Arne Slot’s side. Van Dijk reportedly wants to extend his Liverpool stay and Quansah’s new deal indicates that he’ll also play a major part for us in the long-term.
That being said, the ex-Hamburg defender seems an elite player who’s at the prime of his powers. As far as centre-backs go, there are very few who’d appear better suited to come in and make an immediate impact at Anfield.