£23m Arne Slot favourite emerges to derail ‘certain’ Liverpool transfer as ‘personal terms agreed’
Liverpool are ‘seriously’ considering signing Arne Slot favourite Lutsharel Geertruida as a possible alternative to Jeremie Frimpong.
It was claimed last year that Slot had ‘demanded’ that Liverpool attempt to bring Geertruida to Merseyside with him from Feyenoord as his first signing last summer.
It was stated that the Reds would ‘move strongly in the market to please their new coach’ and ‘one of the club’s priorities’ was to sign Geertruida.
The Feyenoord defender – who can play at right-back or centre-back and is used to stepping into midfield – was ‘keen to join his current manager at Liverpool’ with Slot seeing the 23-year-old as ‘a valuable reinforcement for the Reds’ defence’.
Geertruida instead joined RB Leipzig for £17m, rejecting an approach from Aston Villa, and was full of praise for his former boss when ahead of their reunion in the UEFA Champions League last October, as Liverpool claimed a 1-0 win over Bundesliga side.
The 24-year-old said: “Arne managed to get the best out of me. He was never afraid to give me some harsh truths and was always correct in what he said about me. I believe he was a game changer for Feyenoord as soon as he arrived in Rotterdam.
“We always looked to play a dominant style of football, no matter the opponent. That led to us winning both the league title and the cup, as well as also getting us to a Conference League final. That shows he did a really great job.
“He is an intelligent coach who knows how he wants to go about things. Off the field he is also very open and is always prepared to listen to what you have to say and is easy to have a conversation with.”
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Geertruida can still effectively be Slot’s first signing as Federico Chiesa doesn’t really count and who knows when Giorgi Mamardashvili will make his debut.
And a report from Confidential (via Daily Mail) claims Liverpool are once again eyeing Geertruida – who’s valued at £23m by Transfermarkt – after he made 34 appearances in his first season in Germany.
It’s been suggested Liverpool are close to bringing Jeremie Frimpong to the club from Bayer Leverkusen as a replacement for Real Madrid-bound Trent Alexander-Arnold.
A report on Wednesday claimed Liverpool ‘have verbally agreed personal terms’ to sign Frimpong in the summer.
The Netherlands international is ‘open to a move to Anfield’ and the Liverpool board ‘must now decide if and when to proceed with the possible move’.
But whether as an alternative to Frimpong or as a further addition to the squad, Geertruida is considered a ‘serious possibility’ for the Reds.