Liverpool had success in the final days of the summer transfer window as they signed Italy international Federico Chiesa from Juventus in a cut-price deal worth around £12.5m. They also reached an agreement with Valencia to sign goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who will join the club in 2025.
The summer window was still frustrating for the Reds, though. At the start of August, they stepped up their interest in Zubimendi as their priority was to sign a new No.6.
The Spain international was previously linked with Arsenal, but Liverpool were expected to sign him as they were willing to activate the £51m release clause in his contract.
However, Zubimendi opted to perform a dramatic U-turn at the last minute as he had one key reason for staying at boyhood club Real Sociedad.
Liverpool were reportedly ‘offered’ an alternative, but they opted against signing a different midfielder before the summer transfer window closes.
While they did not sign a midfielder in the summer, they could move for one in the winter as a report from Football Insider claims they have a ‘January signing plan’.
This is despite the report pointing out that the January window is ‘not the ideal market’ to make a statement signing.
‘Arne Slot wanted a defensive midfielder throughout the summer transfer window, but the Premier League giants were unable to secure one.
‘Liverpool did come close to signing Martin Zumbimendi, but he ended up turning down the move to stay at Real Sociedad after the Premier League giants had agreed to pay his release clause of £51.3million.
‘There were no other names cropping up towards the end of the market, so Liverpool have opted to wait and assess the situation in January.
‘The Reds want to see what options become available, but Slot does want someone in to complement his midfield options.’
Slot has his first competitive game against Man Utd as Liverpool boss on Sunday afternoon. Ahead of this match, he said he’s anticipating a different challenge to their match in pre-season.
“It’s going to be different, when we played them in the States I think it was 50-50 because of the fans,” Slot said.
“The atmosphere will be completely different because I’m not expecting half of the stadium cheering for us or that they are favour for us.
“That’s going to be different, but what makes it more different is both teams have a lot of different players on the pitch.
“So you can’t compare that game with the game on Sunday.”
Football365
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