Liverpool attacker Bobby Adekanye is set to join Lazio on a free transfer at the end of the season after agreeing the terms of a pre-contract, according to Goal.
The football site claim the Dutch youth international, 19, will make a move to the Italian capital after negotiating a deal with the Serie A outfit back in November before it only recently came to the Premier League club’s attention.
Goal report Liverpool had been keen to extend the Nigeria-born teenager’s deal, but he has decided to take advantage of his expiring contract to leave on a Bosman free.
Good move for Liverpool?
There has not been the same noise about Adekanye as there has around other Liverpool teenage rising stars such as Rhian Brewster, Ki-Jana Hoever, Ben Woodburn, Bobby Duncan and Curtis Jones. But the Nigeria-born youngster is clearly highly thought of at the club’s Kirkby academy and they will be unhappy to lose a genuinely promising performer. No elite clubs want to see their best young players leave, and it is a measure of Adekanye’s potential that he is seemingly heading to a club of the stature of Lazio. There will be no compensation fee for Liverpool as the youngster is heading overseas. A lack of consistency and injuries have held him back at Liverpool but he could achieve big things in the future.
This Is Futbol rating 4/10
Likely to happen?
This deal appears to be all but done. It is written as if there is no doubt about Adekanye leaving, and it is unlikely to have presented so strongly without Liverpool given an off-the-record green light. Expect the player to pitch up in Italy at the end of the current campaign.
This Is Futbol rating 9/10