Liverpool Close In On £20 Million Lazar Markovic

Reds are on the brink of signing the Benfica winger.

Liverpool are closing in on the £20 million signing of Benfica winger Lazar Markovic, according to the BBC, as Reds boss Brendan Rodgers begins to spend some of his £75 million windfall received from the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona. Rodgers has a huge kitty to splash this summer and is close to completing the signing of Markovic, who could be unveiled at Anfield within the next 24 hours. The 20-year-old former Partizan Belgrade player helped Benfica to the Portuguese title last season, scoring five goals. Markovic would become Rodgers's fourth summer signing, following in the footsteps of Rickie Lambert, Emre Can and Adam Lallana. Lambert and Lallana have arrived from Southampton for a combined £29 million while Can has joined from Bayer Leverkusen for £10 million. Liverpool are also keen on Divock Origi, and have reached a deal with the 19-year-old striker's club Lille. One player who could be heading in the opposite direction though is Iago Aspas, with Sevilla in discussions to sign the 26-year-old despite the forward having only moved to Merseyside 14 months ago. Aspas made only 14 appearances for Liverpool last season and is considered surplus to requirements by Rodgers, who is stepping up his summer recruitment plans following the departure of Suarez to Barca.
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Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.