Liverpool willing to pay £10 million to snap up 18-year-old midfield sensation - Reports
Liverpool have joined Premier League rivals Brighton and Hove Albion in the race to sign the 'next Kevin De Bruyne', according to a report.
The Reds have been linked to 18-year-old Polish wonderkid Kacper Kozlowski and are willing to pay up to £10 million for his services. The Reds' offer is reportedly slightly higher than Brighton's purported offer of £8 million.
A midfielder by trade, Kozlowski is currently playing in the Polish top-flight with Pogoń Szczecin. He shot to fame after becoming the youngest-ever player at the Euros at 17 years and 246 days while featuring for Poland in this year's championship.
Super Express Sport had earlier reported that Szczecin's president Jaroslaw Mroczek claimed about 20 clubs were interested in the youngster. It's now been confirmed that Liverpool are one of them.
❗️𝗡𝗘𝗪: Liverpool have become the latest club to join the race to sign Kacper Kozłowski. The Reds want to buy the midfielder in the winter market. Liverpool are offering £10M for him and are willing to let him go back on loan until the end of the season.
Source: @se_pl 🇵🇱🗞 https://t.co/PeEUqWBuCt
With both Mroczek and club manager Kosta Runjaic keen to keep the star until the end of the 2021-22 season, Liverpool could agree to a loan until next summer before he arrives at Anfield.
Despite strong interests, though, Mroczek did not rule out any possibility. He said:
"I do not rule out any solutions, including that Kozłowski will not be sold this winter."
Kozlowski is currently in a rich vein of form, having scored thrice while providing four assists in 16 league games during Szczecin's title charge. They're trailing leaders Lech Poznan by four points after 19 games and selling the star could possibly derail their silverware ambitions.
It's also confirmed that the Seagulls have shown greater determination from the start in their pursuit of the teenager.
Kozlowski could develop into a star under Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp
Szczecin's president Mroczek has also revealed that Kozlowski could end up working with even better managers than Jurgen Klopp. However, the Liverpool boss has a reputation for turning young talents into world-beaters, including a few players from Poland like Robert Lewandowski.
Klopp signed the striker at Borussia Dortmund in 2010 and he soon became a highly sought-after name in the Bundesliga.
Kacper Kozlowski on Liverpool and potential of working with Jurgen Klopp:
"I don't really think about it, I do my own thing. Klopp? Maybe such things work for someone else, but big names like those don't impress me much. I know that I can work with better coaches and players." https://t.co/Yepn0m4SZF
In 187 games under the German, Lewandowski scored 103 times, including 74 in the league before joining rivals Bayern Munich in 2014.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson, Joe Gomez, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott are a few members of the current Liverpool squad who've thrived under Klopp's tutelage.