Liverpool transfer collapses despite offer as multi-year effort comes to nothing | OneFootball

Liverpool will not be signing a player they’ve had their eye on for the past two years, according to a report.

The transfer headlines at Anfield right now are understandably being dominated by the club’s pursuit of Bradley Barcola.

The PSG winger has signalled his intention to join Liverpool, and forging an agreement on personal terms won’t be an issue.

The Reds are now primed to launch their official opening bid, with one reporter claiming it’ll total €150m / £128.5m.

However, other irons are in the fire at Anfield, with news recently breaking of Andoni Iraola requesting an addition in defence.

Liverpool’s rearguard looks paper thin to say the least. Conor Bradley remains injured at right-back, while Joe Gomez has already sustained a muscle injury in pre-season from the centre-back corps.

Over at left-back, Milos Kerkez is the undisputed starter, but a replacement for his primary back-up, Kostas Tsimikas, must be sought sooner rather than later. Tsimikas only has a year remaining on his contract.

Our colleagues over on TEAMtalk brought news a few days ago of Liverpool exploring deals to sign John Stones or Ezri Konsa.

However, Stones has subsequently agreed to sign for Inter Milan via free agency, while Aston Villa are not intentioned to sell Konsa.

Instead, Italian outlet TuttoMercatoWeb have claimed Liverpool have made an attempt to sign Atletico Madrid’s Matteo Ruggeri. He is a left-back by trade, and joined Atleti one year ago from Atalanta.

TMW claimed Liverpool have been tracking Ruggeri, 24, dating all the way back to the 2024 Europa League final, in which Atalanta defeated Bayer Leverkusen 3-0.

Atletico Madrid deny Liverpool for Matteo Ruggeri

Yet despite reportedly making an ‘offer’, Liverpool won’t be signing Ruggeri this summer, nor will any other suitor, with Diego Simeone taking the decision to keep the Italian at Atleti.

The report’s headline read: ‘Atletico Madrid rejected all offers for Matteo Ruggeri, including from Liverpool and Tottenham’.

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In the copy, they added: ‘Matteo Ruggeri leaving Madrid? That’s not an option for now.

‘In recent weeks, there’s been interest from Serie A and Premier League clubs – some with significant offers, well above the €20 million he paid a year ago.

‘But Simeone’s plan is to keep him for another year (at least) after his strong performances’.

On Liverpool specifically, TMW concluded: ‘Liverpool have been monitoring Ruggeri’s development for a couple of years, so much so that after the 2024 Europa League final, they conducted an inquiry, but the response was negative.’