Liverpool will launch a €40m bid for AC Milan midfielder Ismael Bennacer in the coming days, according to a report.
Following the Reds' opening day draw at Marco Silva's Fulham on Saturday afternoon, where Thiago Alcantara became the latest member of Jurgen Klopp's squad to pull up with an injury, Liverpool are said to be ready to pursue a fourth signing of an already busy transfer window.
That's according to the Italian outlet Calciomercatoweb, who report that Bennacer, who is said to have a €50m release clause, can help solve Klopp's midfield injury crisis following a difficult few weeks for the club's medical department.
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Thiago's suspected hamstring problem follows injuries to Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Naby Keita also missed the 2-2 draw with Fulham through illness.
Bennacer has spent three years at AC Milan since he made the €16m move from fellow Serie A side Empoli in the summer of 2019. The Algeria international has since gone on to make 103 appearances for the Rossoneri and claimed a Serie A winners' medal last season.
The Bennacer rumours, which emerged from Italy over the weekend, contradict reports from the English press this summer that claim Liverpool manager Klopp - who is said to be a huge fan of Borussia Dortmund prodigy Jude Bellingham - is holding out on until the summer of 2023 to bolster the options he currently has in midfield.
Despite the injuries to the aforementioned trio of Thiago, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jones, the Reds have Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Jones, Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho in the ranks ahead of the busy August schedule, which will see them take to the field a further four times, as Klopp looks to make up for lost ground following the two points dropped at Craven Cottage
Bennacer's current contract at AC Milan expires in the summer of 2024, which is said to be the trigger for Klopp wanting to move for a player who will add "quality and geometry" to the Anfield ranks, according to Calciomercatoweb.
Earlier this summer the word out of the club was that Klopp would not be adding to the signings of Carvalho, Calvin Ramsay and Darwin Nunez.
But when asked if his current midfield problem would change that stance, the Reds manager said after the draw with Fulham: “We will see. A transfer must make sense now and in the long-term. We have eight midfielders. We still have enough midfielders. It’s not that we lack midfielders, it’s just some of them are injured.
“This isn’t a good situation, I don’t like it at all. We have to see how we react on that, but for sure not panic.”
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