The Reds had been credited with an interest in teenager Stefan Tzimas, who is enjoying a prolific season for FC Nurnberg. He has scored 10 goals and recorded two assists in 18 appearances for the German second-tier outfit during a loan spell from Greek club PAOK Salonika.
Seagulls swoop
The 19-year-old was also a reported transfer target for Tottenham Hotspur. However, Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion appear to have won the race for his signature. According to Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, Tzimas has already undergone a medical with the Seagulls. He will join Nurnberg permanently for €18 million and they will make at least €7 million profit after agreeing a €25 million fee plus add-ons with Brighton.
Plettenberg posted on X: “DONE DEAL | Stefanos #Tzimas will join Brighton, starting in summer. 19 y/o striker wanted to join Brighton after very good talks with Fabian Hürzeler, as exclusively revealed this week.
“FC Nürnberg have triggered the €18m option to buy. Brighton have agreed on €25m deal + add-ons. Medical done. Long-term contract signed, starting next season. Tzimas will finish the season at Nürnberg. Announcement on Monday.”
Liverpool’s plans
Liverpool’s links to Tzimas were always tentative at best and a pursuit in January was highly unlikely. The Reds currently have six attacking options as they top the Premier League table by six points. For Saturday’s 2-0 win at AFC Bournemouth, head coach Arne Slot opted to omit Federico Chiesa from his match-day squad after Diogo Jota returned from injury and Darwin Nunez came back from illness. Mo Salah, who scored a double, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo started the triumph on the south coast.
It appears will will be a quiet end to the January transfer window for Liverpool, especially in terms of incomings. However, Slot has insisted that planning is afoot for the Reds to strengthen their squad in the summer transfer window.
“I'm hoping I will be able to keep the club at that level,” the Anfield supremo told BBC Football Focus. “You don't think after 20 games we will have that many points and I wasn't expecting us to be top with the margin we have," he added.
"It's always nice to be up there, but nobody would have expected this. I'm the last person who would have expected [reigning champions Manchester] City to have such a bad run. I know people sometimes question this because they haven't seen us doing a lot in the transfer market in the summer and now in the winter as well. There's a reason for that - because we're happy with the squad.
"But I do know we're definitely working on strengthening in the summer. That would mean, in my opinion, that we will, for the upcoming years if the players keep working this hard, that we will be able to challenge for every trophy we are playing for.”
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