Liverpool & Manchester City to fight for €120-rated Argentine midfielder this winter
Liverpool and Manchester City have both recently been linked with a spectacular winter move for Benfica's Enzo Fernandez.
Even the most reasonable Reds fan would have to admit that Liverpool massively messed up last summer by not signing a world-class midfielder and with the current injury crisis we're going through it has highlighted that mistake even more.
However, recent news has claimed that the Reds are willing to go into the transfer market this January to try and buy a midfielder. As we know though, trying to get a great player who can improve the squad in the winter transfer market is very hard.
Despite that, we have proven in the past that it can be done, mainly with the signing of Virgil van Dijk who came in and won everything you can.
Now, according to Portuguese outlet Record, who originally broke the Darwin Nunez to Liverpool news, as cited by LFC Transfer Room, Premier League sides Liverpool and Manchester City are ready to battle it out for the signing of 21-year-old Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez this winter.
However, the Argentine midfielder is currently protected by a €120million release clause. Despite that, we saw with Nunez last summer that players can go for much less than the release clause.
The report also claims that Benfica know about the interest from top clubs and that they are already preparing for his departure but they want to sell him next summer, not this January.
Anfield Watch Verdict
Fernandez would be a great signing for this Liverpool side. I don't think he would come straight in as a starter but he would definitely be in the mix.
Ideally, he would be Thiago Alcantara's backup and learn his trade from him and then break into the first team next season, starting week in and week out.
However, the Reds are so desperate for some quality in the midfield department that it would not surprise me if he was thrown into the deep end straight away.
Saying that, Liverpool and Man City aren't the only clubs interested in the 21-year-old with Erik ten Hag apparently making the Argentine his number-one target.
Fortunately, Liverpool have a good relationship with Benfica after the Nunez deal so they will surely have the advantage if they want to enter the race for Fernandez.