Liverpool plan to sell Swiss winger Xherdan Shaqiri and use proceeds to buy Samuel Chukwueze

ENGLISH Premier League giants Liverpool have set their sights on signing Super Eagles winger Samuel Chukwueze from Villarreal in the Spanish league this summer and are prepared to offload Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri to fund the move.

 

Shaqiri, 27, joined Liverpool in a bargain £13m deal from Stoke City last summer but after a promising start, a mystery injury curtailed his progress and limited his appearances. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is now considering cashing in on the player and using the proceeds to purchase a younger winger to help end the club's long league title drought.

 

Liverpool last won the English league in 1990 and despite several spirited attempts have failed to repeat the feat since then. In the just-concluded season, after a promising start, Liverpool were piped to the English Premier League crown by Manchester City who won the title by just a point.

 

Chukwueze, 20, has been in blinding form this season but the left-footed winger, commonly known as Samu, has a €60m exit clause in his contract, which Liverpool will have to meet if they want him. However, Mr Klopp believes Chukwueze has all the attributes needed to become a huge star, having scored five times in 19 La Liga outings and also catching the eye in the Europa League.

 

Although many commentators believe Liverpool are not looking to sell Shaqiri, they believe the right offer would tempt the club to part ways with him.  With the 27-year-old only scoring six goals and assisting five times in 30 appearances in all competitions, Mr Klopp is said to be  looking for someone to apply more pressure on his favoured front three.

 

Villarreal are likely to try and fight to keep Chukwueze but know a big bid from Liverpool would be difficult to refuse. Manchester City and Bayern Munich have also been said to be interested in the player and Chukwueze has said playing in the English Premier League is an ambition he would like to realise.

 

Chukwueze said:  “Playing in England is still an ambition for me. I need to keep on working hard and to keep improving but I really want to play in England.

 

“I was very close to signing for Arsenal and almost had the contract in my hands. Unfortunately, it did not work out fine with my academy due to their side of agreement and payment, as they did not agree with the terms of the contract.”

 

Liverpool's first choice front three are Egyptian Mohammed Sallah, Senegalese skipper Sadio Mane and the Brazilian Fermino. If Chukwueze moves to Merseyside, he will have an almighty battle on his hands to grab a shirt off one of them.

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