Liverpool Prepare To Sign $60M Center-Back Who Is Also Barcelona, Bayern’s Target: Report

Liverpool FC are reportedly looking to sign Inter Milan center-back Alessandro Bastoni, who is also wanted by FC Barcelona and Bayer Munich, during the summer transfer window.

Bastoni, who joined Inter Milan ahead of the 2019-20 campaign, has become a vital cog of the San Siro side in very little time. Jurgen Klopp has been impressed with Bastoni’s recent performances and Liverpool are prepared to pay around $60 million, the transfer fee set by Inter Milan for the 21-year-old defender, Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport reported.

After graduating from Atalanta’s youth set-up, Bastoni made his senior debut with the club’s first team during the 2016-17 season. He earned just four appearances with the Bergamo-based club before he was signed by Inter Milan in the summer of 2017 for $37 million. However, the San Siro side allowed Bastoni to continue playing for Atalanta on loan.

Bastoni bagged another five appearances before moving to Parma on loan the following season. He played 24 competitive matches for Parma. Ever since he returned to Inter in 2019, Bastoni established himself as one of the promising defenders in Europe. Across the last two seasons, Bastoni has earned a total of 64 first-team caps and has played an important role in Inter Milan’s ongoing campaign in the 2020-21 Serie A, where the club is nine points clear at the top. At the age of just 21, Bastoni has become an essential member of Antonio Conte’s defense at Inter Milan.

Bastoni, who is contracted with Inter Milan until 2023, has attracted interest from top European clubs, including Barcelona and Bayern Munich apart from Liverpool. Considering the attention, the young defender has been getting from across Europe, Inter are eager to extend the player’s contract. However, the Serie A leaders are in financial difficulty at present, so may have to sell some of their key assets, the soccer website Teamtalk reported.

Meanwhile, Liverpool are currently without their key center-backs Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, and Joel Matip because of their injuries. The Reds bought Ben Davies from Championship side Preston, but the 25-year-old is yet to make his debut for Liverpool. Klopp even signed Schalke’s Ozan Kabak on loan and his deal had an option to buy. If Liverpool don’t trigger the buy-out clause, Kabak would return to Schalke at the end of the 2020-21 season.

The 21-year-old Bastoni made his senior debut with the Italian national team last year. After having played just three games for Italy, he is expected to be included in their squad for the upcoming European Championships.