According to reports, Yevhen Konoplyanka has decided to join Liverpool, and in doing so has rejected a transfer to Tottenham Hotspur.
Having missed out on FC Basle youngster Mohamed Salah to Chelsea earlier this month, Reds manager Brendan Rodgers declared his intention to make a big-signing before the window closed at 11pm on Friday. And he has since been linked with a move for Konoplyanka, who can play on either winger or in a more central attacking role.
The Merseyside club are thought to have sent managing director Ian Ayre and head of recruitment Dave Fallows to Ukraine to hold talks with the player, who has made 35 appearances and scored eight goals for his country. But it emerged on Thursday that Tottenham, a rival for a top-four finish, had also registered an interest.
With both clubs willing to meet the asking price of around £15million for Konoplyanka, it was left for the Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk forward to decide which club to sign for. And according to talkSPORT on Friday morning, he has decided his future lies at Anfield. Rodgers will now be optimistic that a deal can be wrapped up before the deadline.
This would cap off a fine week for Liverpool, who thrashed their neighbours Everton 4-0 in the derby on Tuesday evening. With Tottenham suffering a 5-1 home defeat to Manchester City the following night, this has now opened up a three-point margin from fourth position to fifth. Indeed, with Arsenal and Chelsea also dropping points in midweek, there have been suggestions that the 18-times champions could even mount a bid for the title.
Earlier this week, though, club legend Ian Rush dismissed such a notion. The former Wales international said: “It’s too soon to say about going on and winning the league. I think you got to be realistic. At the start of the season if you finish in the top four, we’ll take that. There are four teams, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, you’d expect them to be in the top four then it’s like three or four teams fighting for that fourth place.”
