Rumour Mongering: Liverpool Dismiss Sven Botman Talk

The club have responded to rumours of Sven Botman interest by
letting it be known a deal isn’t in the works.

Liverpool seem as though they could do with some defensive
reinforcements, what with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez likely out
for the season and Joël Matip currently sidelined for three weeks
with the latest in a long line of injuries.

Into that obvious void, the past week has seen a rapid ramping up of rumours the Reds could be
ratifying a deal for Lille’s Sven Botman, a promising, physically
imposing Dutch centre half said to be available for around
€20M.

However, as of today all signs point to it being a case of an
agent trying to use Liverpool’s name to get a move or better deal
for his client, as the club have let it be known through connected
journalists that no deal is in the works.

Between The Athletic’s James Pearce saying there are “no talks over a
deal” and Fabrizio Romano stating there’s “nothing
advanced at the moment,” at the very least is seems like a quick
January signing of Botman isn’t on the cards.

Given Lille signed Botman from Ajax for €8M last summer, there
was always a suspicious air to the rumours. Still, given
Liverpool’s injury situation, the club accelerating plans for a
potential future target wasn’t entirely implausible.

It’s not impossible the club are downplaying interest in a
player they could still sign, but with a short January window and
the club’s pressing need, if talks were advanced we likely wouldn’t
be getting these sorts of denials.