Liverpool have discovered the price at which they could tempt a Serie A club into selling one player who Jurgen Klopp is most eager to have at Anfield, according to reports from Italy.
The print edition of Tuttosport claimed (via Sport Witness) that Torino are expecting the Reds to return with a follow-up offer for Perr Schuurs, having already turned down a €30m (£25.7m) bid for the defender.
Il Toro’s technical director David Vagnati has insisted that he wants at least €40m (£34.3m) for the Dutchman, but should offers of such value arrive, it could make the club ‘question everything’, with some prospective suitors likely to try and tempt the 23-year-old with ‘ultra-million salaries’.
Schuurs is currently in England to watch his sister compete at Wimbledon, with some suggestions that he could use his time in London as an opportunity for ‘market encounters’ with interested clubs.
If Klopp has his way, Liverpool will find the extra £8.6m to put on top of their original offer if they go back to Torino with another proposal.
The manager is believed to have instructed the Anfield hierarchy to try and sign the Dutch centre-back at any cost (Tuttosport, via Daily Express), and the gap between the Reds’ first bid and the Serie A club’s reported asking price is far from unbridgeable.
It’s well known that the Merseysiders are on the lookout for defensive reinforcements this summer, and an outlay of just under £35m for a 23-year-old who’s already accrued Champions League experience (Transfermarkt) doesn’t seem gargantuan.
Torino appear willing to at least enter discussions if Liverpool – or anyone else – can meet their valuation of Schuurs, which should offer considerable encouragement to Jorg Schmadtke and his recruitment team in any efforts to sign the Dutchman.
We can expect Klopp to have a quiet word in the ears of the Anfield powerbrokers following this report, in the hope that the Reds will return with a bid which’d be attractive to the Turin outfit.
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