Following on from a weekend of rumour about potential striker signings for Liverpool, one tabloid reports today that the club has had an offer rejected.
The Mirror reports:
Liverpool have had an approach for Southampton striker Shane Long rebuffed by the south coast side.
Kop boss Jurgen Klopp was eyeing a shock £8million swoop for the Republic of Ireland ace to bolster his injury-hit frontline.
The report states that Southampton are intent on holding on to the payer despite the fact that they have just brought Charlie Austin into the club from QPR. These circumstances will lead to further rumours about the future of Saints striker Graziano Pelle.
As for Liverpool, they played for most of the game with Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday without a recognised centre forward. While Roberto Firmino played as a false number 9 he wasn’t at his best and Christian Benteke started the game on the bench before being introduced in the 81st minute, to little or no effect.
It does appear as if the Liverpool manager may be prioritising a striker in the second half of the window. Daniel Sturridge, Danny Ings and Philippe Coutinho were sidelined on Sunday and Klopp’s faith in Benteke remains questionable.
Long has scored 8 goals this season but Saints manager Ronald Koeman is a hard man to bargain with and seems intent on keeping his squad together in this transfer window.
Liverpool have signed no less than 5 Saints players since the summer before last.
Let’s see Long in action.
Liverpool fans: keen?
