Update on Liverpool's bid to sign €30m baller: he will meet with club chief

Corriere dello Sport reports that Liverpool target Lorenzo Pellegrini wants to stay in Rome and follow in the footsteps of Francesco Totti and Danielle De Rossi as captain of the Giallorossi.

The Wijnaldum-shaped hole in Liverpool's squad needs to be filled and recent reports have suggested that Pellegrini could be the man for the job.

He's got all the tools needed to be a very good midfielder for the Reds but his desire to stay in Rome means that signing him is a no go.

Pellegrini linked with Anfield move

We recently that claimed that an offer has been made to sign the midfielder.

The report stated that he has a €30m (£25.8m) release clause in his contract which would have made signing him straightforward as it would have been a case of getting him to agree to a move to Anfield and agreeing on personal terms.

According to La Repubblica, Spurs’ new managing director of football Fabio Paratici wants to sign Lorenzo Pellegrini for new manager Paulo Fonseca.

Mundo Deportivo also reports that Barcelona have an offer of their own on the table.

Now Corriere dello Sport claims that the player wants to renew his contract with AS Roma and will hold a meeting with the club's Chief Executive Officer Tiago Pinto to sort out his future.

Who are Liverpool's midfield targets?

Jurgen Klopp is on holiday but sporting director Michael Edwards is hard at work to arrange summer deals for the German and while suggestions have been made that a midfielder will not be signed, a recruitment source close to Anfield Central says this couldn't be further from the truth.

Yves Bissouma, Florian Neuhaus, John McGinn and Youri Tielemans are all of interest to Liverpool although the latter is unlikely given that Leicester City will demand a huge sum for his services.

McGinn is the most recent name linked with a move to Anfield but as James Pearce wrote for the Athletic, his £50m valuation means that he's unlikely to link up with Andy Robertson at club level.

The same can be said for Yves Bissouma, with Brighton looking for close to £50m as well although it must be said that the Malian would be much better value for money at that price point.

The Scottish midfielder is a terrific player and he works very hard but he's more in the mould of James Milner while Bissouma has pace, tackling, goals, flair, work ethic, tactical nous as well as the ability to play anywhere in the engine room.

Regular readers of this site will know how highly I rate Bissouma. I recently said that I think he's what Naby Keita should have been for the Reds.

I don't think £50m is an unfair price for Bissouma given his displays for Brighton this season, his age and the fact that he has two years left on his contract at the AMEX Stadium.

Tony Bloom, Brighton chairman, will not be bullied this summer but he did say the 24-year-old could leave at the right price recently although it remains to be seen if Liverpool will rekindle their interest.