Liverpool Target Barcelona's Cillessen As £52.5m Karius Replacement

Jürgen Klopp wants to offer Barca's backup first team football.

loris karius liverpool
By Дмитрий Садовников (soccer.ru) [CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons

Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo are reporting that Liverpool have targeted Barcelona backup keeper Jasper Cillessen as a straight replacement for Loris Karius in goal.

Since joining Barca from Dutch giants Ajax in 2016, Cillessen has only made two La Liga starts. After the horror show performance Karius put in during last week's Champions League final in Kiev though, a new goalkeeper is at the top of Jürgen Klopp's summer wishlist.

If they do choose to pursue Cillessen, then Liverpool will have to meet his £52.5 million release clause. According to TEAMTalk, that's more realistic than potential moves for Roma's Alisson or Atlético Madrid's Jan Oblak.

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Reports say Roma want as much as £79 million for Alisson, and Atlético won't let Oblak go unless suitors meet his €100 million release clause. That makes Cillessen, who has become a serial bench-warmer at the Camp Nou, Liverpool's best bet.

Finding a settled goalie has been one of Klopp's biggest challenges at Anfield since joining in 2015, but it doesn't look like the unfortunate Karius has a future with the Premier League side.

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