Report have shown that Liverpool have reportedly turned their attention to Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves in their search for a new midfielder.
Although the Portugal international, who serves as captain of Julen Lopetegui’s side, only has 18 months left to run on his contract with the West Midlands outfit.
Wolves have consistently fended off interest in the 25-year-old from clubs in the Premier League and abroad, but they could soon come under pressure to sell their skipper.
It must be noted thatBarcelona are believed to be considering a move for Neves as they eye potential successors to Sergio Busquets, while Manchester United and Arsenal have been linked in the past.
Now, The Mirror claims that Liverpool are also weighing up a January approach for the former Porto youngster amid persistent calls from fans for new faces in the midfield.
The report claims that Jurgen Klopp is a “big admirer” of Neves, whose £70m valuation is dropping by the month as he runs down his contract at Molineux.
Newcastle United are also said to be keeping tabs on the Portuguese lynchpin, but the Magpies would supposedly wait until the summer before making their approach.
Neves has four goals to his name from 18 Premier League games in a Wolves jersey this term, but his efforts have only helped Lopetegui’s side to 16th in the table at this stage of the season.
Since arriving from Porto in 2017 and helping Wolves earn promotion to the Premier League in his debut season, Neves has totalled 28 goals and 12 assists in 235 outings for the West Midlands side, and he played in all five games for Portugal at the 2022 World Cup.
Liverpool’s only acquisition of the January transfer window so far has been Cody Gakpo, who joined in a £37m switch from PSV Eindhoven, but the out-of-sorts Reds have suffered back-to-back Premier League losses to start 2023.
Following their 3-1 defeat at the hands of Brentford, Liverpool were humbled 3-0 by Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, seeing them drop to ninth in the standings approaching the midway point of the season.
