Liverpool planning more talks to seal Alex Teixeira deal
Liverpool will hold further talks with Shakhtar Donetsk over the signing of Alex Teixeira after submitting an initial €32m (£24.6m) bid for the Brazilian forward.
A Liverpool delegation led by the chief executive, Ian Ayre, met their Ukrainian counterparts this week in Orlando, where Shakhtar are competing in the Florida Cup, having identified the 26-year-old as the player to rejuvenate Jürgen Klopp’s struggling attack.
Ayre and company returned to Britain on Thursday without a deal but Shakhtar are willing to continue negotiations during this transfer window.
The clubs are far apart in their valuation of Teixeira with the Shakhtar owner, Rinat Akhmetov, seeking €50m for a forward who has scored 22 goals in 15 league games this season plus three in six Champions League matches. Liverpool have scored only 25 goals in 22 Premier League games.
An added complication is Shakhtar’s reluctance to sell in January but the player is keen on a move to the Premier League and Liverpool will again test his employer’s resolve over the coming days.
Liverpool know from experience the difficulty of dealing with Ukrainian clubs – and specifically their owners – having missed out on Yevhen Konoplyanka in January 2014.
Ayre spent several days in face-to-face talks with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk officials over Konoplyanka, Liverpool met the forward’s £16m release clause and the Ukraine international had agreed personal terms on a move to Anfield only for the Dnipro president, Ihor Kolomoyskyi, to refuse to sanction his release. Liverpool also failed to land Henrik Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar in 2013 although the absence of Champions League football at Anfield, not Donetsk, was a bigger obstacle to that deal.
Chelsea, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain have all registered interest in Teixeira, who has not been capped by Brazil but would be almost certain to obtain a work permit under new criteria that considers transfer fee, wages and Champions League experience in applicants from outside the European Economic Area.
It is believed Chelsea turned their attentions towards Corinthians’ Alexandre Pato having baulked at Shakhtar’s asking price for Teixeira.
The Brazilian started Shakhtar’s opening Florida Cup game against Fluminense on Sunday but missed Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat by Corinthians after suffering a hamstring injury in training. The injury, a common occurrence within the Liverpool squad this season, is not believed to be serious.
Mircea Lucescu, the Shakhtar coach, said on Thursday: “I decided not to risk it and rest him.”
Both Lucescu and Teixeira have previously admitted a January exit is unlikely.
The forward, who has scored 67 goals in 146 games for Shakhtar since joining from Vasco de Gama for €6m in 2010, said in November: “What I saw and my agent told me was that Chelsea, Juventus and PSG made offers but Chelsea and Juventus are ahead in the negotiations. They are three big clubs.
"Wherever I go I will be happy. Shakhtar Donetsk are not very big in Brazil. I think I may need to move on to stand out and earn a place in the squad. That’s my goal for 2016.
“It was a pleasure to know Chelsea want to sign me. It’s my dream, I’ve told many people I wish to play in the Premier League because I think it is the best championship of the world, the most competitive one, and I want to have this challenge in my career.
"My agent is taking care of it. For January, I believe it will be too difficult as we are in the middle of the season. Shakhtar said they won’t let me leave in January, only by the end of the season.”
Source: Guardian
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