Chins have been wagging in the Football Transfer Tavern this week with the news that Manchester City’s James Milner could be the first big name transfer of the summer so far – Depay aside – with Liverpool closing in on a deal for the England international.
Our resident Reds fans drinking by the bar are split on the idea of signing Milner however with some claiming he is an uninspiring signing to replace Steven Gerrard whereas others believe he is one of the greatest unsung pros in European football.
What is undoubted is that Milner – often billed as boring – will bring energy, effort and a never-say-die attitude to the Reds’ ranks and lets be honest, such qualities have been found lacking in a number of Liverpool’s players this past season.
It remains to be seen where Milner will be deployed for Liverpool going forward with Brendan Rodgers constantly tweeking his formations and tactics but you can imagine he might be given a crack back in a favoured central midfield berth alongside Jordan Henderson.
With Emre Can, Lucas Leiva and Joe Allen providing competition of course, Rodgers will have gone some way to improving his midfield but what about the other positions?
Here we take a look at five other Reds targets who could well end up following Milner to Merseyside this summer.
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Click on these Reds fans below to reveal the 5 Liverpool transfers waiting to happen after James Milner’s arrival.
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Nathaniel Clyne
Now we know what you’re thinking; the Reds had a £10 million transfer bid knocked back by Southampton last week but we feel this story has got far more legs as the summer progresses.
According to the Daily Express who reference the Liverpool Echo, the Reds will up their failed bid to £15 million in an attempt to get Saints to part with their England international full back.
Clyne fits all the criteria to succeed in a Rodgers side. He fits the young and English profile that the Reds boss is going after and is an energetic full back providing a threat going forward as well as completing his defensive duties efficiently.
With chances of a new deal for Glen Johnson looking slim, Jon Flanagan’s injury problems being well, a problem and Javi Manquillo not really making the most of the few opportunities he’s been awarded, you feel Clyne is high on the list of Rodgers’ transfer priorities, hence moving for him so early this summer.
Emre Can has completed a job at right back but against better opposition such as Chelsea and Arsenal where he had to face world class wide men in Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez, oh and Stoke City’s Martin Arnautovic, he struggled massively.
Danny Ings
Again fitting the young and English bill for Rodgers, you sense that the transfer of Danny Ings from Burnley to Liverpool will happen sooner rather than later; it’s just a matter of time.
Last week, Tottenham were linked with a £12 million deal for Ings that would blow the Reds out of the water in the transfer market but with that news having subsided, everybody in the tavern fully expects the England Under-21 international to link up with Liverpool on a free as originally reported.
While Ings’ potential arrival at Anfield is all well and good, Liverpool fans are eager to clear the deadwood to not only pave the way for the Burnley man but hopefully another top class striking addition to boot.
This will mean disposing of the likes of Rickie Lambert, Fabio Borini and the returning Iago Aspas but they may have to wait a little longer to be rid of Mario Balotelli who will reportedly be staying at Liverpool this summer despite a less than impressive first season back in England.
Moreover, it remains to be seen what the returning Divock Origi will bring to the fold after enduring an equally disappointing loan spell back in France with Lille.
Denis Cheryshev
We haven’t mentioned him as yet but we will do now.
Raheem Sterling has been a player on everybody’s lips in recent weeks after he announced his shocking decision that he wants to continue his development away from Liverpool from here on in and if he does get his wish, a replacement needs to be sought for Rodgers.
A lesser known name linked as a potential replacement today has been Real Madrid’s Russian international wide man Denis Cheryshev who has just completed a season-long loan spell at Villarreal.
According to Metro, Cheryshev’s future at the Bernabeu is bleak – I mean even we could’ve worked that one out – given the array of riches Rafael Benitez can choose from and this could be to the Reds’ advantage.
At this point, our resident Liverpool fans scoff that the Reds need more high profile names to boost themselves back into the top four and claim Russians have never really cut it in English football for long periods – just look at Andrey Arshavin, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Yuri Zhirkov and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov who played across town at Everton!
Christian Benteke
A man that seemingly everybody wants to get their hands upon this summer is Aston Villa’s Belgian international striker Christian Benteke.
Liverpool have been a name at the forefront of the rumours circulating around Benteke so far this summer although Reds fans will hope he has more of an impact at Anfield than he did in the FA Cup Final, that is if he rocks up on Merseyside of course.
What’s clear is that in his time spent at Villa Park so far, Tim Sherwood has managed to coax the best out of Benteke once again but going through patchy form wouldn’t be tolerated so easily at an expectant club such as Liverpool.
The good news for Rodgers and co is that Benteke is still adamant on playing European football next term and with Liverpool having qualified for the qualification rounds of next season’s Europa League, he could get that wish there.
It remains to be seen whether the likes of Chelsea will want to add him as a reserve option behind Diego Costa but we believe a Liverpool switch would suit Benteke down to the ground where he would receive regular playing time as the lone front man up top, especially if Daniel Sturridge is to succumb to the sidelines again next season.
Andriy Yarmolenko
Another potential replacement for Raheem Sterling comes in the form of Dynamo Kiev’s poster boy Andriy Yarmolenko.
Liverpool have got it wrong with a whole host of wingers in seasons gone by – just think about the likes of Milan Jovanovic, Ryan Babel, Mark Gonzalez and Stewart Downing – so if signed, there would be a lot of pressure on Yarmolenko to succeed and provide far more in his debut season than Adam Lallana and Lazar Markovic contributed.
The latest is that the Ukrainian international is ready to leave his Dynamo Kiev this summer with Tottenham also monitoring the situation carefully.
The thing with this move is that we have seen in the past how hard it can be to coax players out of the comfort zone in Ukraine with the Reds having failed to land Yarmolenko’s international team-mate Yevhen Konoplyanka a few January transfer windows back.
One thing is for sure however; Yarmolenko is a talented footballer and there is reason to think that he could succeed in England where the likes of Sergei Rebrov and Andriy Shevchenko failed.
