Liverpool prepare £5m Dempsey bid as they look to offload Carroll permanently
The Fulham attacking midfielder has rejected a new contract from the
London club but will have to wait for his dream move while the England
striker's future is resolved
EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent
Liverpool are preparing a £5 million bid for Clint Dempsey as they step up plans to sell Andy Carroll on a permanent deal.
Goal.com understands that
the American has rejected a new contract offer from Fulham and has told
the Londoners that he wants to leave for a Champions League-calibre
club.
Liverpool have pursued Dempsey for 12 months and have now
stepped up their interest in a player whom Brendan Rodgers has privately
made clear that he wants to bring to Merseyside.
Fulham value
the USA international at £9m but a combination of his age – 29 – and his
contract situation – he has just entered the final year of his current
deal – mean that they will settle for a fee of around £5m.
Sources have said that Liverpool have not yet
made a formal offer for the attacking midfielder and are, indeed, not
expected to sign him until Carroll’s future is resolved.
Newcastle
have made an official bid to sign the England striker on a season-long
loan, which was rejected on Sunday night by the Merseysiders.
Nevertheless,
Rodgers has told Liverpool that he wants to offload the club’s record
signing on a permanent deal and the club are willing to listen to any
offers of around £15m.
West Ham United have made enquiries for
Carroll but only have the funds to make a loan move in which the cost of
his wages would be shared with Liverpool, while Fulham’s reported
interest last week was believed to merely be a carefully-engineered
mechanism to push through the Dempsey deal.
Aston Villa are
interested in Carroll but the player’s most realistic avenue for a
permanent move is a romantic return to boyhood club Newcastle.
It
is believed that the Tyneside club regard Carroll as a back-up option
in case they lose Demba Ba, whose future remains up in the air because
of the £7m exit clause in his deal that runs until the end of the month.
Liverpool, who signed Italy forward Fabio Borini last Friday, could have to bide their time before making an offer for Dempsey.
The
attacking midfielder, who scored 17 Premier League goals last season
and 23 in all competitions, has rejected Fulham’s offer of a new three
year-contract that includes an option for a fourth year.
Dempsey,
who moved to west London five-and-a-half years ago, believes that it
could be the last opportunity he gets to play for one of the elite
Premier League clubs.
Source : Goal.com