Liverpool Seeks Nunez Replacement As Barca Sets Price

Liverpool are stepping up their interest in RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko with Darwin Nunez expected to leave this summer, according to reports.

The Reds won the Premier League title at the end of April by beating Tottenham 5-1 at Anfield with the Reds able to celebrate and look forward to next season.

Arne Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes have already been hard at work identifying the players to take Liverpool to the next level again next season.

Although they performed brilliantly in the Premier League, there will be an appetite to improve their disappointing showings in other competitions.

Their first signing is almost secure with Bayer Leverkusen defender Jeremie Frimpong completing his medical earlier this week ahead of a move to Anfield.

The Netherlands international will replace Trent Alexander-Arnold with the Liverpool right-back reportedly heading to Real Madrid on a free transfer after announcing his departure from the club earlier this season.

A report on Tuesday claimed that Liverpool are looking to bring in another five signings on top of Frimpong with a new striker one of their top priorities.

Nunez, who was brought to the club by Jurgen Klopp in 2022 for around £85m from Benfica, has dropped down the pecking order at Anfield under Slot and the expectation is that he will now be free to leave.

There have been rumours that their ‘dream’ signing up front would be Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak – but a deal for the Sweden international seems incredibly difficult this summer.

And now Liverpool website DaveOCKOP claims that the Reds are ‘likely to buy a forward after offloading Nunez, with the money from his sale being used as part of a potential incoming deal’.

The outlet confirms that Liverpool have ‘serious interest’ in RB Leipzig striker Sesko, who has scored 21 goals in all competitions this season, and it is ‘interest that has been maintained since last year’.

It is understood that Sesko ‘would be interested in a switch to Anfield’ this summer but the report points out that ‘no formal approach has yet been made to Leipzig’.

‘There have been discussions with Sesko about a move this summer’ but DaveOCKOP points out that they may have been conducted by a third party and not Liverpool themselves.

Leipzig will apparently look to demand around €100m (££85m) for their prized asset but the Bundesliga outfit ‘may be willing to accept lower than that due to Sesko’s positive relationship with the club’.

Liverpool’s ambitions in the transfer market mean they are likely to have to sell some of their players this summer and Luis Diaz is one star who could be sacrificed.

Barcelona have been heavily linked to the Colombian international with reports in Spain claiming that Liverpool are ‘not be willing to let him leave for less than 85 million euros’.

It is ‘a figure that Barça is currently unwilling to pay under any circumstances’ with the Catalan giants’ sporting director Deco ‘very clear that the maximum price for the Colombian would be around 60 million’.

Despite the Liverpool’s insistence over their asking price, Deco ‘is confident that, with a good strategy, that amount could be enough to convince the Reds’.

Football365.com