Liverpool are making “good progress” in discussions with the representatives of Lyon winger Malick Fofana, according to L’Equipe reporter Hugo Guillemot.
The Reds’ interest has been known for several weeks and, while Guillemot has confirmed that Arne Slot’s side are still working on the deal, an official bid may only be lodged when they have raised enough funds through player sales:
“Liverpool, for their part, have made good progress in discussions with Fofana’s agents. As soon as the Reds have sold an attacking player, they could make an offer.”
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Guillemot has also said that Lyon have set their asking price for Fofana at €50m (£43m).
Liverpool have competition for the winger
Writing in his report for L’Equipe, Guillemot claimed that both Chelsea and Manchester United have made initial enquiries for Fofana as well.
Based on what is being said, though, it does seem like the Merseysiders have a head start on the competition, although they may still miss out on the player if they can’t offload a winger or striker.
Who could be sacrificed to sign Fofana?
The prime candidate would have been Luis Diaz. Barcelona were very interested in recruiting the Colombian international but it appears as though the La Liga champions have switched their focus to purchasing Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams instead.
Cody Gakpo could also depart. Bayern Munich are reportedly keen on him, and if they lose out to Barca for Williams, they may end up making an offer for the Dutchman.
Federico Chiesa, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota are other potential options in terms of sales. Nunez is interesting various clubs in Europe an Saudi Arabia and he would raise the most funds out of the three.
In other news, Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United are also holding discussions with another French player