According to reports from Italy, Liverpool have made their move to try and sign a highly coveted teenage talent from Serie A.
The print edition of Gazzetta Dello Sport claimed (via Paisley Gates) that the Reds have ‘moved in’ for Kenan Yildiz, but their approach has been turned down by Juventus, who’ve also said no to Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig.
Such is the Turin club’s desire to keep the 18-year-old at the Allianz Stadium that they’re willing to offload Moise Kean instead, and they may duly need to offer a pay rise to the Turkish teenager in order to appease him amid the widespread interest.
The youngster is reportedly valued at a figure between €35m and €40m (£30.1m-£34.5m).
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Yildiz has enjoyed a promising start to his time in the Juventus first team, with three goals in 11 appearances so far (Transfermarkt), one of which made him the club’s youngest foreign goalscorer in Serie A.
Capable of leading the line or playing just behind the main striker (Transfermarkt), the 18-year-old is already a full Turkey international and has scored for his country, while the magnitude of the clubs to have asked about him also speaks to his enormous potential.
However, even aside from the Bianconeri’s staunch desire not to sell him, the teenager mightn’t want to give up the regular run of games he’s now getting in Turin for a backup role at Liverpool, where he’d surely be too raw to immediately displace the likes of Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.
Also, a fee of more than £30m would be quite a lot to pay for someone who’s yet to reach a dozen appearances in his senior club career (Transfermarkt), especially in the context of the much more experienced Mo Salah costing just £36.9m (The Guardian) when the Reds signed him in 2017.
In all likelihood, the chances of Yildiz coming to Anfield any time soon are remote, but you can see why LFC would be interested in him given the early promise that he’s showing for Juventus.