Liverpool “Close In” on Emre Can Capture

With the deal seemingly dead before it even got off the ground, Liverpool now appear poised to make Bayer Leverkusen midfield maestro Emre Can the first signing of the transfer window.

The highly rated 20-year old has a complicated contract which sees German juggernauts Bayern Munich hold a buy-back clause in his contract after shipping the youngster out for £4.5mil last summer. Although we’re light on the fine grain details at the moment, it appears that should the £10mil buy-out clause in his current contract be activated, Bayern’s claim to the youngster — which they apparently can’t exercise until 2015 anyway — will be null and utterly void leaving the Reds to snap up the versatile midfielder. Is that confusing enough for you?

Again, there’s a whole lot of speculation and not a lot of cold, hard facts floating around, but Times journalist Tony Barrett has confirmed that the Anfield outfit have made a “breakthrough” in their pursuit of the player and are “closing in” on a £12mil deal for Can. Though it seems a bit odd that we’d be playing over and above the £10mil that’s rumoured to be his buy-out clause, Brendan Rodgers is thought to be a keen admirer of the player — who can play all across midfield — and wants to have this deal wrapped up as soon as possible to avoid any poachers swooping in.

Done deal or another bit of smoke and mirrors? “We know of their interest but there is nothing official,” said German legend and incumbent Leverkusen Sporting Director Rudi Voller yesterday, confirming that Liverpool have a vested interest in the player. “Of course Emre has a clause in his contract now and we’re still waiting for a decision. The return on our investment would make for lucrative business.”

More on this as it inevitably develops…