Liverpool are reportedly ready to complete a €40 million swoop for LOSC Lille’s attacking star Jonathan Ikone this summer.
According to an exclusive report from Anfield Central, Liverpool are working on the possibility of reaching an agreement with LOSC Lille over the services of Jonathan Ikone. The Ligue 1 champions are persistent on their €40 million price tag, which is believed to be too much for the Premier League giants.
Liverpool, however, are looking to pay a favourable sum upfront and scheduling a repayment scheme for the remaining fees at a time that favour the newly crowned kings of France, who are suffering a financial crisis thanks to the pandemic.
Lille are expected to lose multiple star players in the summer and have already been linked with the sale of Zeki Celik, who is a target for Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham. Ikone, it seems, could be the next player to be eyeing a move to Premier League.
It is believed that the French attacker is highly favoured by Jurgen Klopp, even though he was not indispensable in Lille’s title-winning campaign when compared to the likes of Burak Yilmaz, Boubakary Soumare, Jonathan David and even Celik.
In fact, the 23-year-old contributed to just nine goals in 37 league encounters in Ligue 1 this past season, often getting outshone by his teammates like Jonathan Bamba, Yusuf Yazici and Jonathan David. Klopp, nonetheless, appears to be a fan of his pace and aggression that are tailor-made to his gegenpressing football at Liverpool.
Liverpool’s interest in Ikone stems from the uncertain future of Xherdan Shaqiri. The Swiss international is tipped to depart Anfield in the summer after failing to win the trust of Klopp. It is believed the Reds might be willing to offload their attacker for a fee of just €7 million, with the club desperate to obtain an upgrade in the form of Ikone.
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The Lille winger, however, is not the only option as Liverpool have also been linked with a move for Patson Daka. They might be closing in on the capture of the Zambian, who is tipped to join Ibrahima Konate in the list of Liverpool newcomers this summer.
A fee of €40 million is definitely a tall order for a player of Ikone’s calibre so a lot will depend on how the Merseyside giants manage to negotiate the conditions of the transfer. At the end of the day, though, Liverpool might be forced to set their sights on cheaper options.
