Transfer News: Liverpool close to agreeing deal with Schalke defender
Joel Matip has reportedly agreed to join English Premier League (EPL) club Liverpool on a free transfer from Bundesliga club Schalke at the end of the season.
The 24-year-old was being monitored by Liverpool for a long time but the English club was unable to come to an agreement with their German counterpart.
However, Matip will now move on to the Merseyside club at the end of the season via a Bosman ruling, according to The Mirror. Liverpool has already agreed terms with the Cameroonian for the transfer to materialise.
Matip has made 239 appearances for Schalke and also has 27 caps for the Cameroon national team under his belt. He is a central defender who can also play as a defensive midfielder when required. The German-born Cameroonian has been featuring for his present club Schalke for over nine years.
The arrival of Matip at Anfield will now cause questions over the long-term futures of two other Liverpool defenders, Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren.
Matip has featured in 17 games for Schalke in the German Bundesliga where he has won 19 tackles with a success rate of 42 percent. He has also made 53 interceptions, 83 clearances and 14 blocks, according to squawka.com.
Meanwhile, Liverpool is set to fight it out with La Liga giants Real Madrid to capture the signature of France Ligue 1 club AS Monaco’s Kylian Mbappe.
The 17-year-old French winger has made 17 appearances for the Ligue 1 club this season. However, his deal expires at the end of the current season and negotiation talks have stalled regarding a new contract with Monaco.
Mbappe is not the only winger Liverpool is monitoring. Serbian club Partizan Belgrade’s Andrija Zivkovic is also on their radar. However, they will face stern competition from French giants Paris Saint-Germain regarding the winger’s signature, according to reports from the French publication L'Equipe.
The 19-year-old has been touted as the next wonder kid in Serbia and has already scored 12 league goals this season. A fee of around £3.75 million (AU $7.77 million) may be enough to sign the winger.
