Rodgers is looking to sign long term Manchester United target Filip Djuricic from Heerenveen, with a £4 million bid reportedly being readied for January.
Manchester United took Djuricic on trial in 2009, and with rumours that only work permit issues stopped the deal from being completed shortly afterwards, Ferguson has maintained his interest in the player since.
Djuricic has now been capped seven times for Serbia, and has also impressed in his time at Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivise, with the result that Liverpool are now keen to try and nip in ahead of United to complete the signing of the 20 year old.
Djuricic plays primarily as an attacking midfielder or second striker, and may perhaps view the chances of first team football at Anfield more likely in this position, with Rodgers demonstrating his willingness to incorporate young talents into his side throughout the start of the season.
Indeed Djuricic’s main competition in the attacking midfield would be fellow youngster Raheem Sterling and Suso. The Serbian has a fair bit more first team football under his belt though, and could be an important addition to Liverpool’s attacking threat, which has so far relied on Luis Suarez. Liverpool may also look to link Djuric up with his former Heerenveen teammate Oussama Assaidi, who they signed in the summer.
How Manchester United will react to Liverpool’s reported interest is unclear. They allegedly had similar work permit issues with Adam Ljajic when they tried to sign him from Partizan Belgrade in 2010, leading to Ljajic ending up at Fiorentina instead.
Ljajic has impressed at the Italian club, despite an altercation with former coach Delio Rossi that saw the manager attempt to punch his player, leading to his dismissal.
With Ljajic, United would now be looking at a hefty bid to bring the player they once thought they had signed to Old Trafford, and they may be keen to avoid a similar situation developing with Djuricic, especially with the interest this time coming from a Premier League rival.
However United also have a plethora of players in their attack, and may look to strengthen other areas in January instead.
image: © Vincent Teeuwen
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