Ezequiel Lavezzi Transfer Available to Liverpool for £14M, Latest Reds Rumours

Liverpool could yet make a late swoop for Paris Saint-Germain forward Ezequiel Lavezzi on transfer deadline day, according to reports.

As noted by Simon Rice of The Independent, Reds boss Brendan Rodgers has claimed that it’s very unlikely that the club will conduct any late business in the window. However, the piece suggests that if the Anfield club do stump up the reported asking price of £14 million for the player’s services, PSG manager Laurent Blanc will let him go.

Here’s a look at what the Reds could be getting for that kind of money:

Lavezzi would certainly add something different to this Liverpool attack. His ability with the ball is outstanding, his movement is very clever and his work-rate would give the Reds an industriousness in advanced areas that has been in scarce supply during the majority of this season.

According to Ian Herbert of The Independent, this is a deal that simply will not happen, though:

With Daniel Sturridge back in the team and back among the goals, and with Raheem Sterling showing he can do an admirable job at the point of the attack, the Reds are no longer in desperate need of another striker. Indeed, if they were going to look at bolstering their squad with surprise additions, they would probably focus on adding strength to other areas of the team.

With that in mind, Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe took a look at whether or not signing Lavezzi would be worthwhile for the Reds:

According to InsideFutbol, they won’t be signing Hannover midfielder Lars Stindl either. As noted by the piece, the Reds have apparently harboured a longstanding interest in the player, but the Bundesliga club’s president, Martin Kind, has dashed any lingering hopes of bringing the 26-year-old to Anfield.

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

“In any eventuality, we will not let him go this winter,” Kind told Bild, per the aforementioned piece.

With that being said, Stindl's contract is believed to include a clause that will allow him to leave the club for a reported €3 million at the end of the season, according to the same report.

You suspect that if Rodgers does have a serious interest in the player, then a move in the summer would surely make a lot more sense. What's more, given Hannover’s obvious reluctance to sell in January, it would be a lot cheaper too.

Raphael Honigstein of The Guardian doesn’t think he’d be that much of a coup for the Reds, anyway:

Rodgers has some big decisions to make at the end of the current campaign concerning his midfield options. With Steven Gerrard set to leave the club at the end of the season, it’s vital that the Reds do make some acquisitions in that area of the pitch, but you suspect the Anfield faithful would be looking for names that command a little more gravitas.

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Asier Illarramendi has been touted as a potential target, according to El Confidencial (per Rice's piece), and he’s a player with the kind of quality that could help the club’s transition without Gerrard. Stindl would be a decent squad player and a fine cut-price acquisition, but he’s not got the quality to become a long-term replacement for the iconic skipper.