Real Sociedad's Diego Llorente in action. (Getty Images)
According to a report from Spanish publication AS, Liverpool are interested in signing Real Sociedad ace Diego Llorente this summer.
The Spaniard, 25, spent 15 years at Real Madrid – working his way through the youth teams, before finally breaking into the first-team after a decade in their academy. Since joining Real Sociedad in 2017, he has gone on to make 44 La Liga appearances, scoring three times.
Diego Llorente had a start-stop 2018/19 campaign, with ankle and muscle injuries limiting him to just 21 appearances in the La Liga. However, AS claim the Spaniard has a £44m release clause in his contract, but could be available for a fee close to £28m.
The report adds Liverpool have opened the bidding with a £22 million offer but if it gets rejected by Real Sociedad, should the Merseyside outfit follow it up with another bid? Considering the injury problems Llorente has endured in the 2018/19, the Reds, however, must take a gamble on the defender.
Liverpool fell cruelly short, missing out on their first-ever Premier League title to Manchester City by a single point on the final day of the season. To make another title push, Jurgen Klopp needs to first add some depth to his defence this summer after being caught short earlier in the 2018/19 campaign.
Due to an unfortunate run of injuries that saw the likes of Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren miss some part of 2019, Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip formed a formidable partnership at the heart of Liverpool defence. Matip impressed in the absence of Gomez, dishing out strong and powerful performances in the closing stages of the campaign.
Despite Klopp having one of the best defences in Europe this season, with Van Dijk marshalling things at back, it could be argued that the Merseysiders need another solid centre-back in their ranks. With Lovren being inconsistent once again and Gomez has had numerous injury problems, the addition for someone like Llorente makes complete sense.
A technically gifted defender, Llorente is equally adept playing in a holding midfield role as well as at right-back. He is very comfortable when in possession of the football and at 6ft 1in, the Spaniard is good in the air. The ex-Real Madrid ace weighed in with seven goals across all competitions last year to highlight his attacking threat and his versatility will give Klopp a number of options as well.
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The two-capped Spanish international would not only strengthen Liverpool’s defensive options but also add depth to the squad. In fact, he could be a real upgrade on the inconsistent Lovren and be a solid back-up for the likes of Van Dijk and Gomez next term.
Llorente definitely has the characteristics to succeed in the Premier League and if the Reds manage to get him inside the £30 million bracket, it would be deemed as a smart piece of business from Klopp and company.