Liverpool have suffered a setback in their pursuit of signing a quality No.6 this summer, but this is not something new.
Last year, the Reds agreed deals with Brighton and the Saints to lure Caicedo and Lavia but failed to convince the duo, who preferred joining Chelsea instead.
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In the end, we completed a stop-gap signing of Endo to replace a world class defensive midfielder like Fabinho.
This time around, Martin Zubimendi was the main man, who Slot wanted to reinforce the deep lying midfield position at Anfield.
As per today’s edition of Marca (news image provided below) the information indicated that Zubimendi and Merino ‘almost closed agreements’ with Liverpool and Arsenal to move to Anfield and the Emirates respectively.
The Madrid based media outlet state that the Reds have been prepared to meet the 60 million euros termination clause in the midfielder’s contract.
However, the Spaniard has now decided to stay with Real Sociedad, much to the despair of the Anfield faithful.
To make matters worse, David Ornstein believes Liverpool do not expect to even sign an alternative to reinforce the midfield for Arne Slot, who is still waiting for his first signing after taking over from Jurgen Klopp.
Man City and Arsenal already have top quality No.6 stars in the form of Rodri and Rice and the Anfield side might not be able to challenge them for the title again if they fail to lure an upgrade on Endo.
Have your say – With Zubimendi staying at Sociedad, who should Liverpool sign to reinforce the DM position?
