Liverpool Transfer News: Domenico Berardi Warning Issued, Latest Reds Rumours

Liverpool have been told to forget about signing Domenico Berardi from Sassuolo in the January window by the Serie A side’s managing director, Giovanni Carnevali.

Juventus previously co-owned the exciting youngster, but they agreed to sell their share of the rights to the player to Sassuolo in the summer after joint ownership deals were outlawed in Italy. Carnevali has revealed that, after clinching a deal for Berardi, the club have little intention of letting him leave any time soon, per Tuttosport (h/t talkSPORT):

"

Last year, we invested €10 million in him. For now Berardi is completely a Sassuolo player and we're not a club that needs to sell.

I can rule out a January move. That's not part of our company policy. With Juventus it's an open discussion. It's an advantage, but Juventus are not the only ones to be following Berardi.

"

Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images

As noted by talkSPORT, the Reds, Chelsea and Manchester United have all previously been linked with the young forward, who has cemented his reputation as one of the top prospects in Italy. It’s suggested in the piece that Juventus may look at activating their own buy-back clause in the January window.

Berardi is currently flourishing as part of a progressive Sassuolo side. Here’s a look at why he is attracting interest from a host of illustrious names:

The 21-year-old is capable of playing in a variety of different positions across the front line and has excelled on the right of an attacking trio so far this term. It was a role in which he flourished during 2014-15 season also, menacing opposition defences with his eye for a pass and pinpoint delivery.

Perhaps most crucially of all, Berardi is a player who has razor-sharp goalscoring instincts despite his tender years, per OptaPaolo:

The burgeoning attacker combined both his eye for goal and superb set-piece ability with this wonderful strike against Milan at the San Siro recently, per BT Sport:

It’s the kind of penetrative threat Liverpool could do with. At the moment Jurgen Klopp’s team lack an edge in the wide areas, something which Berardi would provide. Given the long-term absence of Danny Ings, perennial injury problems for Daniel Sturridge and the knocks regularly picked by Christian Benteke, some cover at the point of the attack would also be ideal.

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So Berardi would be a perfect capture from a stylistic sense. Matteo Bonetti of beIN Sports thinks it’d be the right time for the youngster to make a step up to a bigger club as well:

Juventus’ agreement with Sassuolo will make them the favourites to eventually end up with Berardi, with the player himself recently admitting he expects to be playing regularly for the Turin giants soon, per Sky Sports Italia (h/t Football Italia). Liverpool and the Premier League would also surely represent a tantalising proposition.

However, given the storming start made to life as a permanent Sassuolo player, it’s completely understandable Carnevali is so keen on keeping the youngster on the club’s books. At the moment, having a vital influence in one of the most exciting teams in Serie A seems the best course of action for Berardi to continue his development into a top-class talent.