With less than a month to go until the transfer window opens back up for business, the rumour mill has been in overdrive speculating who Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will make his first signing since taking over at Anfield. While the easy money is on the German going back to former club Borussia Dortmund to snatch up reinforcements, the name of Galatasaray wide man Kevin Grosskreutz and a rumoured three-year deal on Merseyside is being thrown around with increasing regularity .
That the 27-year old actually used to play for Klopp at the Westfalenstadion, of course, comes as little surprise, but the circumstances surrounding his summer move to the Turkish giants makes for interesting reading. Signed on the cheap from the Bundesliga club, Grosskreutz hasn’t played a competitive match for his new club yet after they failed to complete the paperwork and submit it to FIFA in time for him to be registered. Although he will be eligible to return to action come January, it’s believed that he’s disgruntled with the situation at the Türk Telekom Arena and is angling for a move away from the club.
A key member of the much lauded Dortmund side that won successive Bundesliga titles back in 2011 and 2012, Grosskreutz operated mostly as a winger, but crucially for Klopp and Liverpool, he’s also able to fill in as a fullback. Although both Alberto Moreno and Nathaniel Clyne have really upped their games since the German boss took over at Anfield, at this point in time, the duo are really the only first team options that we have available with Jose Enrique frozen out and both Joe Gomez and Jon Flanagan, a right sided player who can also operate on the left, out through injury.
According to the media, Liverpool have already agreed to personal terms with the 27-year old on a three-year deal for a fee somewhere in the region of £1.8mil — an absolute steal for a player of his pedigree. That being said, they’re also reporting that nothing has been agreed with Galatasaray quite yet, making all of this a moot point. Also, there’s speculation that Bundesliga side Hannover 96 are interested in bringing him back to his native Germany which could very well throw a spanner in the works if Grosskreutz has a twinge of homesickness.
