Sheffield United are looking to Liverpool to solve their centre-back issues. That news comes from The Sheffield Star this morning.
The Blades have taken Rhian Brewster and Ben Davies from Liverpool in the last year-and-a-half.
Those two deals have had varying degrees of success. But the Championship club are hopeful that the connections made to get them done will help them in landing either Nathaniel Phillips or Rhys Williams.
United are reportedly turning to the pair after losing out on other targets.
According to the report, they believe that head of recruitment Paul Mitchell’s good relationship with Liverpool could give them an upper-hand in negotiations.
How likely is it to happen
At this stage it’s hard to say how confident Sheffield United should be. Phillips is valued at £15m. He has shown that he can play to a Premier League level.
But Liverpool have struggled to find a buyer, so if the Yorkshire club have the money, the deal could be quite straight-forward.
Liverpool have recently recalled Williams after a disappointing spell at Swansea. It is understood that part of the reason for him returning is to cover for Phillips’ expected departure.
That would mean that a deal to take Williams could only happen if Phillips were to stay at Liverpool.
That still isn’t out of the question. But the priority should be to sell the 24-year-old Phillips. Any move for Williams would likely be a loan.
His older teammate should fetch somewhere close to Liverpool’s asking price which would hopefully help to bolster The Reds summer budget.
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