Klopp ready to strike bargain deal for midfield target he’s ‘in love with’

Liverpool are reportedly locked in a 50/50 battle to sign Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumare with Real Madrid after a report claimed his price tag had come taken a tumble.

Soumare was heavily linked with a move to Newcastle in January in what would have been a club record deal for the Magpies, but he turned the opportunity down.

The 21-year-old retains a desire to play in the Premier League, though, with Manchester United and Liverpool mentioned as possible destinations.

And while Newcastle are reported to be keeping a watching brief, it seems they have taken a backwards seat after reports claimed league leaders Liverpool have already opened talks over the potential signing of the midfielder.

Reports in the Spanish media have taken Liverpool’s reported interest in Soumare even further, with Sport [via Sport Witness] claiming Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is ‘in love’ with the player and will do all in his power to bring him to Anfield at the first available opportunity.

And, according to the Spanish daily, the Lille star will make a straight choice between a move to Anfield and fellow suitors Real Madrid, who are also strongly tipped to make a move.

Furthermore, Sport claims the Ligue 1 side valued Soumare at €40m in the January window and could now be regretting their decision not to sell back then, with a combination of the coronavirus and a loss of form from the midfielder over the second half of the season seeing his value plummet.

While there is no current valuation on the 21-year-old, Transfermarkt value the midfielder at £24.3m (€27.5m).

And Sport claims that is a situation Klopp and Liverpool plan to ‘take advantage of’ with the Reds manager looking to add the defensive midfielder to his ranks by telling the midfielder of the ‘important’ role he would have in their side.

However, the Spanish publication are not yet ruling Real out of the equation, with Los Blancos president Florentino Perez equally as impressed by Soumare.

They claim Perez has ‘put the meat on the table’ in an attempt to sign him and see him as a long-term replacement for Casemiro in midfield and are prepared to make a ‘big investment’ to convince him to move to the Bernabeu.