Liverpool Transfer News: Yevhen Konoplyanka Blow Dealt, Ruben Neves Rumours

Liverpool’s drawn-out pursuit of Ukraine international winger Yevhen Konoplyanka looks as though it’ll be brought to a swift conclusion, with Dnipro confirming that the club is currently in talks with AS Roma about a potential deal.

The Reds came perilously close to landing the effervescent midfielder on the final day of the transfer window 12 months ago, per Jamie Sanderson of Metro and ever since that potential deal fell through, rumours have persisted linking the Anfield club with another move. But as reported by talkSPORT, the Giallorossi seem to have stolen a march on the Merseysiders.

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"Dnipro and Roma are in talks about Konoplyanka," read a statement on the club’s official website, per the aforementioned piece. “The clubs have almost reached an agreement and Yehven is considering the possibility of changing club.”

Here’s a look at why Roma have moved for the Ukraine international:

While the 25-year-old is a wonderful player to watch, Liverpool are no longer in quite as drastic need for a player in his model. Konoplyanka is an intricate talent with a real incisive streak to his attacking play, but in Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana and Lazar Markovic, the Reds already have three players who are stylistically similar.

Nonetheless, according to tuttomercatoweb.com (h/t football-italia.net) the player will hang fire on agreeing a deal with Roma in case Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur move for him. Indeed, according to Sport Witness, the Reds’ local rivals Everton could also be in the frame for his signature:

Roma would be a fine choice for Konoplyanka to continue his footballing development. He’s still a little capricious in his attacking forays, but Serie A is a league that will allow him the time on the ball to flourish; playing alongside other creative talents like Gervinho, Miralem Pjanic and Kevin Strootman would only serve to expedite his progression too.

As noted, he’s not the kind of player that the Reds really need either. With Steven Gerrard set to depart the club at the end of the current campaign, Rodgers will be on the lookout for a figure who can do a longstanding job at the heart of the midfield. According to reports, that could be FC Porto’s Ruben Neves.

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Ed Maylon of the Mirror claims that the Reds have been tracking the young midfielder, who has recently been compared to Barcelona lynchpin Sergio Busquets by current teammate and former Blaugrana star Cristian Tello.

“He is fantastic with the ball at his feet, he knows how to position himself and he’s aggressive”,  said Tello. “He’s similar to Sergio Busquets.”

The 17-year-old’s displays have been so impressive that he’s already featured in the first team for the Portuguese giants on many occasions and a string of glittering displays will surely catch the attentions of European football’s elite. According to Maylon, Liverpool have already sent scouts to watch Porto and run the rule over his precocious ability.

Portuguese football expert Jan Hagen paid tribute to Neves’ quality earlier in the season:

At this juncture, it’d be naive to pin too many hopes on such a young player, but there’s little doubt that Neves has the talent to go on and become one of the best sitting midfield players on the planet. But in the infancy of his career, Porto remains the best place for him to refine his skills and fulfil his short-term potential.

Liverpool wouldn’t be able to afford him quite as much game time and subsequently a switch to Merseyside isn’t ideal for the Portuguese youngster at the moment. Porto have a fine track record of expediting players’ developments—Deco, Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez will attest to that—and as a result, Neves will surely remain at the Estadio do Dragao for a while yet.