Liverpool only club to have 'gone close' to signing Georgiy Sudakov

Liverpool remain the only club who have come close to signing Shakhtar Donetsk player Georgiy Sudakov. The Ukranian has his suitors, however.

Calciomercato claims Liverpool are the only club to have come close to signing Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Georgiy Sudakov. Sudakov is considered the brightest prospect in Ukrainian football.

The now-21-year-old scored five and assisted seven last season as Shakhtar won the title - a campaign that prompted plenty of interest in the youngster. Liverpool were on of those and Calciomercato claimed earlier this season that the Reds pushed quite hard to sign him.

In fact, they were apparently just a step away from getting Sudakov. Ultimately, Liverpool went in a different direction, presumably with the arrival of Ryan Gravenberch.

And that means Sudakov remains with Shakhtar - and very much in demand.

Liverpool like Sudakov

The outlet mentions Manchester City, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich as now holding real interest in Sudakov. Napoli and Juventus also like him - but there's an issue.

The playmaker now has a release clause of around £127m. It means he'll almost certainly cost too much for Italian clubs this summer as even if Shakhtar ask for quite a bit lower than that, their bargaining position is very strong.

Liverpool, says the outlet, are the only club to have 'gone close' to signing Sudakov at this stage. That was almost certainly for a drastically lower fee than his new clause, of course, and the Reds are apparently still in the race here.

It looks almost certain that Sudakov will move in the summer, possibly to a major club. Whether that's Liverpool, though, is up in the air.

Yes, they went close last summer but they've since rebuilt their midfield. A series of young players have squad places now, too, and then there's the big question of who the new manager is.

So while Liverpool have their eyes on Sudakov, it'll be a while before we know if this interest is going anywhere.