The Roma man has apparently been identified as Steven Gerrard’s replacement
If reports in recent days are to be believed, then Brendan Rodgers brief trip to the Italian capital wasn’t just a sight-seeing tour, it was a scouting trip to Lazio and Roma to apparently discuss a number of players on the club’s radar.
Those players were mentioned by Live4liverpool earlier in the week but the name that won’t go away is that of Roma’s starring man Miralem Pjanic. After signing for the Italian side in 2011 for just 11 million Euros, the Bosnia & Herzegovina midfielder recently found good form under current Roma manager Rudi Garcia who guided the Rome-based side to 2nd in Serie A last season with Pjanic the star.
Reports in a number of national newspapers and online sources over the past 48 hours have claimed that the real reason behind Rodgers’ trip was to discuss the potential transfer of Pjanic to Liverpool in the summer.
In the past year and a half, the 24 year old midfielder has really begun to show that he is mining some of that huge potential he had showed before moving to Italy and Brendan Rodgers sees the player as an ideal ‘replacement’ for captain Gerrard when he leaves in the summer.
At present, LFC reportedly value the player at £20 million which falls short of Roma’s own valuation which is almost double that amount. Not to mention that, on top of a hefty fee, Pjanic would apparently be looking for wages in excess of £100,000 a week. All this is unsurprising, when you consider that, for a top class player these days you have to be prepared to break the bank.
Whether FSG would sanction such a move is open to debate but having not suitably replaced Suarez last summer, the club can’t be left behind again when it comes to replacing the talismanic captain.
Of course, almost 75% of this is no doubt speculation but a player of that quality being linked with Liverpool is promising indeed, and the frequency with which his name has been associated with LFC in recent months suggests that there may be more to it than mere speculation.
In the meantime, Liverpool are currently trophy-hunting on two fronts, whilst qualifying for the Champions League has again become a real possibility. And, of course, winning the FA Cup or Europa League and securing Champions League qualification would not only fill the coffers but would be a very convincing carrot to dangle in any negotiations over the summer transfer window.
No chance” no body can fill gerrards shoes.
His shoes are empty.. world class midfielder and Emre Can to def mid.. new right back.. Peter Cech.. we will be at the top for many years..