Steven Gerrard looks to have been replaced by two midfielders in the past week by Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers. If one of them turns out to be 80% as good as the outgoing Reds skipper, Rodgers will have done well.
Reports from Croatia, this morning, suggest Liverpool have agreed personal terms with Inter Milan midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
The 21-year-old Croat impressed with Roberto Mancini's Inter last season but has apparently told teammates at the Italian club that he has played his last game with them.
Vecernji believe Kovacic will be in a Liverpool jersey next season, once the Premier League side and Inter can agree on a transfer fee.
Liverpool's first offer, of €19 million, was rejected and a second, of €21m, is being considered. The newspaper feel, however, that Inter are holding out €25m - the same figure that secured Dejan Lovren's services, from Southampton, last summer.
Rodgers is currently on the hunt for centre midfielders that can fill the gap left by Gerrard. On Thursday,
the club announced they had signed James Milner on a free transfer. The English player will move to Merseyside over the summer, once his contract at Manchester City expires.
In 2010, Kovacic became the Croatian league's youngest ever player when, at the age of 16, he made his Dinamo Zagreb debut. He scored in that game, which Dinamo won 6-0.
In 2013, he made the switch to Inter and was capped for Croatia. In the past two seasons, he played 99 games for club [80] and country [19], scoring five goals.
Here is the obligatory YouTube video with dance soundtrack:
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