Diario De Noticias have reported that Liverpool and Arsenal are both interested in signing Sporting Lisbon goalkeeper Rui Patricio, but they will need to increase their bids to land the Portugal international.
Both clubs would want to bring the 25 year old to England in the summer transfer window.
However it is claimed by DN that Liverpool and Arsenal are only prepared to pay €5m for the player whilst Sporting Lisbon is holding out for double this.
It has been well documented by the Portuguese media in recent weeks that Sporting Lisbon has massive debts after another poor financial year and is looking to off load their highest earners in the next transfer window.
The Lisbon club will want to get as much as possible for their star goalkeeper but they may have to sell the player on the cheap to either of the Premier League sides.
It has been reported the club need to raise €32m to ease their financial situation which therefore leaves Liverpool and Arsenal in a strong position.
Speculation has surrounded Liverpool and Arsenal in recent months with regards to their goalkeeping situation, meaning the two clubs looking at Patricio with interest makes sense.
Pepe Renia is being linked heavily with a move back to his former team Barcelona and Arsenal don't seem to be sure who their number one goalkeeper is.
If Liverpool and Arsenal plan to makes changes in the summer then Patricio comes with plenty of international experience with the Portuguese national team.
He has made 23 appearances for Portugal since he made his debut in November 2010 and was the first choice keeper at the 2012 European Championship.
He also comes with a lot of European football experience including the Champions League.
Due to Sporting Lisbon’s debt issues this isn’t the first player Liverpool have been linked with in the past month from the Portuguese side.
Only last week there was speculation they could be going back in for long term target Jeffren and recently the club were told they would need to increase their bid to land young defender Tiago Ilori.
Patricio for a knock-down fee could turn out to be one of the bargains of the summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment