As Jurgen Klopp closes the door on his Liverpool era, a window of opportunity opens up at Anfield. Not just for the man who will be handed the keys to the Anfield machine, but for a certain £50 million centre-half who could conceivably become a key figure in the next Reds regime.
According to Manuel Sierra, the agent of Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie, Liverpool thought about bringing him to Merseyside last summer, before accepting that reinforcing a midfield hit hard by a series of departures was a more pressing concern.
“Liverpool were interested in him,” Sierra told Futbol Sin Casette. “But, at that time, they chose to invest in the midfield.”
A few months on, and with HITC Football understanding that one Xabi Alonso has been quickly installed as the number one choice to inherit a throne Klopp has kept warm for nearly a decade, Hincapie’s hopes of a potential £50 million move to Liverpool will not have bene done any harm.
Xabi Alonso favourite to replace Juregn Klopp
Alonso, after all, is Hincapie’s head coach at the Bay Arena. It is not uncommon for managers to bring players they know and trust to a new club and, in Hincapie’s case, Liverpool have already done much of the ground work.
And while the one-time Napoli target has not been a guaranteed starter at times – due largely to the exceptional form of Jonathan Tah and Edmond Tapsoba – the Ecuador international has certainly played his part in a stunning run of 24 wins from 27 games. He scored a stoppage time winner away at RB Leipzig last weekend.
Sierra, during a conversation with AS, once again touched on Hincapie’s future yesterday. He is making no secret of his client’s desire to play on the other side of the Channel, with Alonso maybe not the only Leverkusen man set to signpost the beginning of the post-Klopp era.
Piero Hincapie’s Anfield hopes boosted
“I think Piero is fine where he is right now, but he is one of those where maybe something could be done in the summer,” Sierra explains. “He has reached a superlative level and, with Xabi, he has grown a lot.
“I would love, and I know that he would love, to play in the Premier League or some other big club. In the end, it is a natural step. He is already very prepared for it.”
Liverpool have already drawn up plans for a new left-sided centre-half, with HITC being informed that Chelsea’s Levi Colwill and Feyenoord’s David Hancko have been watched.
Hincapie, another defensive southpaw, will tick more than a few boxes. Especially if Alonso is to become the Bob Paisley to Klopp’s Bill Shankly.
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