Liverpool set to go into the night to secure Konoplyanka deal
Published:Despite reports to the contrary, Liverpool’s January pursuit of Ukraine winger Yevhen Konoplyanka is not over and Reds officials are willing to work all the way up to 23.00 GMT to seal the 24-year-old’s signature.
The £15m move was thought to be unlikely to happen after complications at the player’s club Dnipro and rumoured interest from Spurs threatened Liverpool with a second gazumping in a week, after they lost out out to Chelsea in the race for Mohamed Salah.
However, while there is still plenty of work to be done before the 11pm deadline, coach Brendan Rodgers and chief executive Ian Ayre are not giving up hope that Konoplyanka, who scored for his country in a recent World Cup qualifier against England at Wembley, will be unveiled at Anfield next month.
Konoplyanka has reportedly had his Liverpool medical, but the Kirovohrad native certainly will not sign in time to make his debut in their next Premier League fixture, which is at the Hawthorns against West Brom.
The Baggies are 4/1 to taste victory for the first time under new boss Pepe Mel, with the draw 11/4, but their woeful recent results – they’ve won once in all competitions since the start of November – does not bode well for the visit of Rodgers’ top-four challengers.
Liverpool look a sure thing at 4/6 to win for the seventh time in eight outings, with Luis Suarez priced up at a likely 3/1 to open the scoring on his travels.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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