Why Liverpool should beat Everton for Diego Llorente

According to a report in Liverpool Echo (h/t Noticias de Gipuzkoa), Merseyside neighbours Liverpool and Everton are both keen on signing Real Sociedad centre-back Diego Llorente. The Reds have already readied a £25million bid. In reality, the player has a release clause of £42m, but the Spanish side’s owners are believed to be open to negotiating a fee that is below than what is written on the clause. Llorente has come through the ranks at Real Madrid but only played twice for them. He played a season each at Rayo Vallecano and Malaga on loan before making a permanent move to Real Sociedad in 2017. Both Liverpool and Everton have different reasons for tracking a defender for the summer. Here’s why the Reds should beat the Toffees in this race:

Liverpool need a central defender

Despite having a great season in the league, Liverpool have had injury problems in defence. Joe Gomez is yet to recover from an ankle injury that he suffered against Burnley back in December. Dejan Lovren has been an injury-prone centre-back during his time at Anfield, hence, the best thing would be to offload him in the summer. Even Joel Matip, who is currently doing well with Virgil van Dijk, has the tendency to miss games for a certain period of time. Therefore, Jurgen Klopp and his men do need a centre-back, who should be available for most of the games and create a great partnership with van Dijk. For that reason, Liverpool must go hard and get the signature of Diego Llorente done before Everton even think of offering a deal. The Spaniard can also play as a defensive midfielder when required, adding more value to his potential arrival at Anfield. Read More: This agile Moroccan No. 10 is Liverpool’s best bet for replacing Philippe Coutinho in the midfield – Agreed?

Conclusion

While Everton have their own defensive requirements to fulfil in the summer transfer window, Liverpool shouldn’t allow Llorente to park his car at the Goodison.