Liverpool are showing an interest in ‘perhaps the best midfielder in the world’ but face a battle with Premier League rivals Chelsea for Inter Milan star Hakan Calhanoglu.
There’s certainly been more good signs than bad since a summer of change at Anfield, but Saturday’s fortuitous, VAR-aided victory over Crystal Palace was a reminder of how much work is still be done.
The midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister who contributed so much to that scintillating 4-3 victory over Fulham six days earlier were nowhere near so influential at Selhurst Park.
And those Hakan Calhanoglu rumours – not to mention links with Andre Trindade, Joao Palhinha and Kalvin Phillips – suggest that Liverpool are keeping the scaffolding up, their midfield rebuild making good progress but not yet complete.
Liverpool linked with Hakan Calhanoglu
According to Tuttosport, there is interest from Anfield in Inter’s former AC Milan star. Calhanoglu, who made the controversial switch from one San Siro giant to the other back in 2021, is the driving force behind Inter’s latest Scudetto charge, supplying the ammunition for the red-hot forward duo of Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez.
“To me, he (Calhanoglu) is surely the best midfielder in Italy currently,” the 29-year-old’s Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella tells Football Italia. “And perhaps the best in the world.”
High praise indeed, but Montella’s comments are not without justification.
‘Best in the world’
Calhanoglu, who once scored a 45-yard free-kick against Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund while plying his trade for Hamburg, is maturing like a fine wine in Italy. He has eight goals already in all competitions this season, and set Inter on their way to a 3-0 shellacking of reigning Serie A champions Napoli last week with the sort of fiercely-struck volley Steven Gerrard once made his trademark.
With a contract until 2027, Liverpool would be up against it trying to convince Inter into a sale. The Nerazzuri recently turned down a number of big-money bids from a number of Middle Eastern clubs.
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