At last! The long wait to see Liverpool in competitive action is over as they took on Manchester City in the EFL Cup. The Reds were without a few of their first-teamers who are recovering from their World Cup exertions.
Highly-rated youngster Stefan Bajcetic made his second start of the season, but could he soon be lining up in midfield alongside a World Cup winner? Links between Liverpool and Enzo Fernández have continued to be made this week, with River Plate account River al Instante reporting the Reds have agreed on a fee close to $100 million, with Fernández staying at Benfica on loan until the summer.
On the latest episode of our Journo Insight Show, we asked goal.com’s Neil Jones if he thought there was any truth to the rumour.
Neil said:
“I think there’s a lot of guesswork going on in a lot of places at the moment. You might say I’m involved in that a little bit! It’s clear – one: Enzo Fernández is going to move to a top club at some point, probably next summer, maybe not. Two: Liverpool quite like him. I think there were reports that Liverpool were half-investigating signing him in the summer. Without giving too much away, I asked someone at Liverpool via WhatsApp about this transfer and the reply I got was a ‘crying laughing’ emoji, which was about the one about buying now and loaning him back until the summer! I don’t think anything has been agreed for Enzo Fernández, I don’t think anything is particularly close to being agreed. These stories are just going to emerge and emerge and emerge, in all different places.”
Redmen Reacts
Kopites should not be getting too excited if Neil is getting crying laughing emojis from club sources on WhatsApp! The chances of Fernández moving in January have always seemed low – Benfica sporting director Rui Costa was elected on the back of a promise that the club would try to hold on to their biggest stars, so it is imperative for him to keep the Argentian in Lisbon for at least another six months. The Portuguese giants are flying this season, dropping only two points in the Primeira Liga and qualifying top of a Champions League group containing PSG and Juventus. With the fees for Fernández and Jude Bellingham seemingly increasing by the day, is it feasible for Liverpool to chase two £100 million midfielders at the same time? Again, the question of the club’s ownership comes into play. Future owners may be happy to countenance going after two of Europe’s highest-rated young footballers, but that has certainly not been FSG’s modus operandi in recent years.
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