With Southampton putting a freeze on any incoming and outgoing transfers until a successor to newly departed boss Mauricio Pochettino is appointed, Liverpool have been left frustrated in their pursuit of Saint’s attacking midfielder Adam Lallana and defender Dejan Lovren — but that all could be coming to an end if former Feynoord manager Ronald Koeman takes up the hot seat at St. Mary’s stadium.
Memories of the Premier League season were still fresh in their mind when the Reds submitted a £20mil bid for the attack minded Englishman, and with the response from the South Coast side less than enthusiastic, they raised it an additional £5mil in an attempt to conclude the deal prior to the start of the World Cup. It goes without saying that this tactic didn’t do the trick, and although there’s been no official word on Lovren, the Croatian center half is known to have made his desire to leave Southampton known, but with the ban on transfers in effect, he’s been stymied in his efforts to open official talks with potential suitors.
Saint’s chairman Ralph Krueger confirmed that the vacant managerial position at St. Mary’s has attracted “huge interest” after Pochettino left for Spurs just under a month ago. With the “highest-quality managers” in Europe knocking on their door, Southampton appear to have selected Koeman as the successor to the popular Argentine and he’s expected to get down to work as soon as he’s officially installed as boss — which could very well be good news for Liverpool.
With the transfer freeze about to be lifted, the Anfield outfit could move quickly to re-open negotiations over both players. The Reds have made no secret of their desire to have Lallana join recent Southampton refugee Rickie Lambert on Merseyside and they also appear to be in pole position to bring in Lovren with boss Brendan Rodgers looking to shore up the defence ahead of what’s sure to be a gruelling campaign.
Whether or not Koeman, who lead Feyenoord to second place in the Eredivisie last season, will be able to convince either to stay — or, if he’ll want them too — remains to be seen. What is certain is that Southampton won’t be able to dodge our advances, or the players wishes, all summer.
