Liverpool have been tipped to continue their pursuit of Watford winger Ismaïla Sarr, despite splashing out £41m on Diogo Jota from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Reds have spent all summer looking for reliable backups to the attacking trio of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, and Sarr was believed to be at the top of their wish list. However, Liverpool focused on Jota and quickly brought him over to Anfield on Saturday.
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— Diogo Jota (@DiogoJota18) September 19, 2020
Having spent such a significant amount on Jota, it was expected that Liverpool’s search for a new forward was over, but according to France Football, that is not the case as manager Jürgen Klopp remains keen to bring in some more reinforcements.
The report even goes as far as to suggest that Liverpool have agreed a fee with Watford to sign Sarr, with the Reds said to have offered somewhere between £32m and £37m to get a deal over the line.
Discussions have now turned to Sarr’s salary, but even if Liverpool agree to his demands, a transfer is not yet a certainty as Sarr is understood to be worried about how he would now have to battle Jota for minutes as well as the starting trio.
Instead, a move to Aston Villa has now emerged as a possibility. The Villains are believed to be ready to match Liverpool’s offer and hope to lure Sarr over with the promise of a regular spot in the starting lineup.
If Liverpool do miss out on Sarr, it is suggested that they could turn to Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembélé, but only if the Frenchman is available for loan.
Klopp is known to be a huge fan of Dembélé and hopes to get the chance to work with the winger this season, but a loan bid is not expected to be well-received by Barcelona, who are looking to raise transfer funds this summer.
Barça would listen to sizeable offers, but Liverpool are not expected to shell out that kind of money, which is why their focus remains on Sarr for the time being.
Klopp still hopes to offload some of his fringe players, with the likes of Harry Wilson, Rhian Brewster and Xherdan Shaqiri attracting interest from elsewhere, and those departures could raise enough money to make a move for Sarr a reality.
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