Bundesliga journalist Kevin Hatchard has been sharing his thoughts on Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius and his future with the Merseyside club.
This comes after Hatchard made an appearance on a recent episode of the Liverpool Echo’s Blood Red Podcast where he spoke about the German shot-stopper and how he is currently getting on with his loan deal at Bundesliga side Union Berlin.
During the podcast, Hatchard was asked what potential transfer fee Liverpool could get this summer if they managed to sell Karius on a permanent deal to another club.
In response, Hatchard had this to say on the matter.
He said: “It’s difficult because obviously, the pandemic has had a big effect and it’s going to be a supply and demand thing. You look at the whole package, you look at the transfer fee, you look at what wages he would expect, that might rule a few clubs out if he has certain expectations; it might rule Union Berlin out in the long term.
“So, he might have to compromise a little bit, I think Liverpool might have to compromise a little bit, too. Maybe two or three million euros, but it’s very, very difficult to judge given the market because all clubs have been affected, certainly all Bundesliga clubs have been negatively affected by the pandemic.
“It may depend [on] how much he wants to stay in Germany, how settled he feels in Berlin – because there’s a fair few clubs that you could get to from Berlin – so there’s a lot of stuff in the air, but I think what we do know, and I think what he’s accepted, is that his time at Liverpool is pretty much over.”
Liverpool signed Karius back in the 2016 summer transfer window from Mainz for a fee of £5.58 million.
In the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid, the 27-year-old was at fault for two of the goals that the Reds conceded in the 3-1 defeat and has since been out on loan away from the club with Besiktas and current club Union Berlin.
Should Liverpool sell Karius this summer?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Kevin Hatchard’s comments on Karius and his future with Liverpool…
Given how Karius hasn’t been at Liverpool for a significant period of time since his original loan move to Besiktas following his Real Madrid nightmare, this suggests to us that the Merseyside club don’t have any plans to have him in the squad anytime soon and could perhaps look to offload him this summer if they can get some sort of fee for him.
Looking ahead to the upcoming summer transfer window, Liverpool, in our view, should cut their ties with Karius and offload him to a club that would be willing to buy him if he would otherwise take up a significant part of their wage bill.