Reported Liverpool and West Ham United target Youssef En-Nesyri has no interest in leaving Spanish club Sevilla this summer, the striker’s agent has told ABC Sevilla.
Nine months ago, at the start of the Spanish football season, there were understandable concerns over Sevilla’s failure to sign a centre-forward in the summer transfer window.
Julen Lopetegui’s side, the cynics said, had no hope of making serious progress without a reliable number nine.
Luuk de Jong may have been the hero of the club’s latest Europa League triumph but the lanky Dutchman had struggled to fire in La Liga. En-Nesyri, meanwhile, had never been a prolific source of goals during his time at Malaga and Leganes.
Flash forward to May 2021, however, and with just one La Liga game remaining, no-one doubts the potency of En-Nesyri’s instincts these days.
The jet-heeled, £35 million-rated Moroccan has scored a career-best 24 goals in 2020/21, attracting the interest of Liverpool, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan along the way, according to 90Min in February.
West Ham, meanwhile, made a £25 million bid in January and were expected to come back with an improved offer in the summer.
But while Sevilla’s star players don’t tend to stick around for long, En-Nesyri’s Andalusian story still has a few chapters remaining.
“En-Nesyri doesn’t want to leave Sevilla. He wants to continue improving at Sevilla,” agent Anass Ouzifi explains.
“We believe he can continue to progress – and where better than at Sevilla? Youssef has decided he wants to continue next season.
“We will talk to Sevilla about it when the match against Alaves is over.”
En-Nesyri is one of a handful of powerful, old-school number nines linked with a move to Liverpool recently, including Dusan Vlahovic and Leeds United hero Patrick Bamford.
It seems Jurgen Klopp wants a different option in attack, a classic alternative to the cerebral Roberto Firmino.
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