Liverpool ‘take lead’ over Real Madrid for £128m star as Edwards lines up ‘first post-Klopp galactico’

Joe Williams
Liverpool transfer target Georgiy Sudakov
Georgiy Sudakov has been linked with a move to Liverpool.

Liverpool have leapfrogged Real Madrid in the race to sign Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Georgiy Sudakov this summer, according to reports.

The Reds are set for a summer of change with former sporting director Michael Edwards returning to the club and Jurgen Klopp announcing that he will be leaving at the end of the season to take a break from football.

Georgiy Sudakov to follow Mykhaylo Mudryk to the Premier League?

As well as structural changes within the club and a new manager arriving, there are likely to be player personnel changes as any new sporting director and manager look to bring in some of their own players.

Bayern Munich star Jamal Musiala and Hoffenheim youngster Maximilian Beier are two of the latest players to be linked with summer transfers to Anfield.

Liverpool have also been linked with Ukraine international Sudakov from Shakhtar with the Reds reportedly competing against Real Madrid for his signature in the summer.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that the Ukrainian has a €150m (£128m) release clause in his contract at Shakhtar, while he has revealed they rejected a winter bid for the 21-year-old.

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Romano said on The Here We Go Podcast: “Yes there is a release clause included in his new deal, Georgiy Sudakov, who is a very special talent, Shakhtar keep producing interesting players after Mykhaylo Mudryk.

“And in the contract of Sudakov, the release clause is already valid in the summer, so starting from June, and is available for €150m.

“Obviously it is going to be difficult to find somebody to pay that clause, but it’s showing how Shakhtar believe that this player is something really special for present and future.

“I can tell you that in the January transfer window two clubs wanted to sign Sudakov, a club arrived to offer around €35-40m – Shakhtar say no.

“I think in the summer it’s going to be a busy one around Sudakov because he’s a very good talent.”

Sudakov to become ‘first post-Klopp’ signing?

And now Spanish publication Nacional insist that Liverpool want to make Sudakov the ‘first post-Klopp galactico’ signing as they ‘take the lead’ in the battle to sign him over Real Madrid.

The Reds are ‘already thinking’ about when Klopp leaves and ‘one of the first objectives that have been set at Anfield is the incorporation of’ Sudakov with Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal, Marseille and AC Milan also linked.

Liverpool ‘want to get ahead of the rest of the suitors’ and have proposed a deal worth €28m ‘an amount that they hope will be enough’ to lure him to Anfield.