Report: Liverpool making desperate last-ditch attempt to try and sign £25m player before he joins PL rival

07/04/2024 09:00 AM

Liverpool look set to ramp up their transfer efforts after a quiet start to the summer on Merseyside.

The Reds have so far done zero business as they look for the best way to improve the squad left by Jurgen Klopp.

With Arne Slot ready to take his first training sessions with the club later this week, full focus has seemingly been on putting the final touch to preparations at the AXA Training Centre.

However, the transfer market never truly sleeps and there is business that Liverpool could do with getting done this summer.

Methodical up until this point, it looks like the Reds have now been sparked into life by a fellow Premier League club.

Liverpool trying to hijack Mats Wieffer deal

There are a number of areas of the Liverpool squad which look necessary to address during this year’s window.

The first is at centre-back. However after reports claimed that Liverpool insiders have played down a move for Riccardo Calafiori, it seems debateable whether Slot will get a new defender.

Another position which has reportedly been earmarked for strengthening at Liverpool is in attack.

There have been links to plenty of players, but nothing firm has yet presented itself. As with Calafiori, denials have been more forthcoming. It now looks unlikely that Crysencio Summerville joins, for example.

READ MORE: All confirmed incomings, outgoings, loans and releases for Liverpool in 2024/25

Finally, the one role which most Liverpool fans would agree needs bolstering is in defensive midfield. Wataru Endo did a good job for the Reds last season but is not the long-term solution.

As a result, a move to bring in a top No.6 would be welcomed by the fanbase.

And according to Dutch outlet De Telegraaf, that’s exactly what Liverpool are trying to do. They claim that the Reds are ‘making frantic attempts’ to sign Mats Wieffer from Feyenoord.

However, it’s reported that Liverpool’s efforts will ‘come too late.’ Feyenoord are said to have already agreed a deal worth around £25m and ‘hefty bonuses’ to sell Wieffer to Brighton.

Feyenoord’s general manager Dennis te Kloese is now claimed to be staying in England to see to the final details of the transfer. Slot has reportedly given his green light for Liverpool to hijack the deal, but the Reds are – rather delightfully – said to be ‘fishing behind the net.’

Who is Mats Wieffer?

This is not the first time that Wieffer is claimed to have been on the radar at Anfield. The 24-year-old was previously named as one of four midfielders Liverpool could target this summer by journalist Graeme Bailey.

Having been at Feyenoord since 2022, Wieffer has developed into an excellent holding midfielder under Slot.

Having broken into the Dutch national team in 2023, the former Excelsior player now has nine caps.

He would have been part of Ronald Koeman’s Euro 2024 but was injured in the run-up to the tournament.

All in all, it looks highly likely that Liverpool have come to the party a little too late for Wieffer. Nevertheless, the chance to join the Reds and once again work with Slot could still turn things around.