Liverpool – and in particular Jurgen Klopp – have been very impressed by Sporting’s young full-back, Nuno Mendes, according to Correio da Manha (via Sport Witness).
The newspaper published a detailed piece on the Anfield club’s reported interest in the 18-year-old, which they claim ‘intensified’ last month when reports emerged that Premier League rivals Manchester United were also keeping tabs on the player.
The report states: ‘Liverpool first became interested following Mendes’ good first-team debut against Paços Ferreira, and the German manager gave orders for the club to keep an eye on him.’
Mendes has made just one appearance in Liga NOS this season – at home to Pacos Ferreira when he came on as a substitute to replace Marcos Acuña (via Transfermarkt.co.uk).
TIF Thoughts…
Liverpool were without Andrew Robertson for last weekend’s Merseyside derby and as a result, James Milner, a midfielder by trade, was asked to deputise at left-back. The former Manchester City man picked up an injury and was forced off just before half time, shining the spotlight on the fact that in terms of natural cover, it’s an area Liverpool could do with strengthening in.
Do you expect the Reds to do any significant transfer business this summer?
Yes
No
In which case, the reported interest in Nuno Mendes makes sense. According to Sport Witness, the player recently renewed his contract at with the Lisbon-based club, signing a five-year deal with a release clause of €45m (£40.66m).
The Reds were heavily linked with a move for Timo Werner recently, but decided against triggering his release clause, paving the way for him to join Chelsea. In an interview with Sky Germany (as cited by TeamTalk), Klopp suggested it would be wrong for the club to sign a player for such a significant amount of money having had to have conversations with the players regarding salary waivers in order to cope with the impact of the financial crisis stemming from the pandemic.
Taking all of that into account, we don’t believe Liverpool will be doing any major business this summer. However, that doesn’t stop them planning ahead for future windows.