Another summer, another saga brewing in the corridors of Anfield's recruitment office. Liverpool are going to have to dig deep into the Fenway coffers...
Another summer, another saga brewing in the corridors of Anfield's recruitment office. Liverpool are going to have to dig deep into the Fenway coffers if they want to land Alex Scott, the Bournemouth midfield orchestrator whom Andoni Iraola has described as nothing short of 'amazing'. Make no mistake about it, this isn't a bargain bin raid. The Cherries have slapped an eye watering £80 million valuation on the 21 year old, a number that would make even the most spendthrift sporting director blink twice.Now, you have to admire the brass neck down on the south coast. Scott has all the hallmarks of a future England regular; he is comfortable in possession, reads the game with a maturity beyond his years, and can split a defence with a single pass. But £80 million That is a statement of intent, a price tag designed to either scare off suitors or force a club to break their entire transfer policy. For Liverpool, a side crying out for a dynamic presence in the middle of the pitch to complement the legs of Szoboszlai and the guile of Mac Allister, the question is not whether Scott is worth it, but whether the market has gone completely barmy again.The whispers on the terrace, the ones you hear in the pub before a match, suggest that Michael Edwards and the new backroom team are wary of getting into a bidding war. Yet the player himself, a lad who glides across the pitch with an effortless grace, looks every inch a Liverpool signing. He offers the kind of tactical flexibility that sets Slot's plan apart; he can sit deep, he can push on, and he has the stamina to press for ninety minutes. Andoni Iraola's public praise is not just hot air. The Bournemouth gaffer knows he has a gem who can turn a game on its head in transitional moments.Will Liverpool blink first Or will they walk away, leaving the door ajar for the usual suspects from Manchester and London to waltz in That is the beauty of the silly season. For now, the ball is in Liverpool's court, but the price is firmly in Bournemouth's hands. One thing is for certain: if they want the boy who Iraola thinks is amazing, they will have to pay a king's ransom to get him.
