Liverpool are interested in £26m midfielder, but he’s not a priority right now – journalist

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Liverpool are ‘very unlikely’ to add Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Manu Kone to their squad this summer.

Kone had seemingly emerged as one of the Reds top targets after sealing the signing of Alexis Mac Allister this week. But according to journalist Florian Plettenberg on Twitter, that isn’t actually the case.

In a disappointing update on Saturday afternoon, Plettenberg shut down talk of any imminent move to Liverpool.

“News Kone: Been told a transfer to LFC is very unlikely,” wrote the German reporter. “Yes, he’s on a shortlist because of his interesting profile but not a hot transfer target for Liverpool at this stage.

“For M‘Gladbach he’s still a top candidate for sale. But no concrete offers yet. Borussia demands more than €30m [£26m].”

Liverpool move unlikely for Kone

In truth, Kone had seemed to be very much behind Khephren Thuram in Liverpool’s midfield wish list. Links to the OGC Nice man have been a little more frantic than those involving his France U21 teammate.

Nevertheless, this is a disappointing turn of events. Between the pair of them, they looked like decent fits to solve Liverpool’s midfield issues.

Furthermore, as Plettenberg corroborates, Kone is very much available this summer. The price-tag is comfortably within the Reds’ grasp, too.

With Thuram a clear target, it would also make sense to bring the two Frenchman in together. They’ve already been pictured hanging out together this summer and are long-term friends.

When looking for players to rebuild the spine of this Liverpool team, it makes sense to target players who know each other, and have played together already. That isn’t often possible, but it is here.

Ultimately though, Liverpool fans will just have to trust their recruitment team. If they’ve decided that Kone isn’t a key option for them, then they must have someone better lined up.

Over recent years, they haven’t often made poor decisions when actually pulling the trigger on signings. Their hit-rate is unusually excellent. Things could still change of course, but it doesn’t look like they’ll be zoning in on Kone any time soon.