Borussia Monchengladbach Sporting Director Roland Virkus has had his say on the future of coveted midfielder Kouadio Kone, who has been on Liverpool’s radar.
Kone, also known as ‘Manu’, is one of the hottest young prospects in the German scene having signed from Toulouse in 2021. He’s started each of Gladbach’s seven league matches this term.
Knoe's name was suggested as a potential panacea to Liverpool’s midfield issues by journalist Melissa Reddy as the Reds suffered a concentration of injuries in the area.
At the time, Jurgen Klopp was missing Thiago Alcantara, Naby Keita, Curtis Jones, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson - with the latter forcing the Reds to move for Arthur Melo from Juventus.
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Thiago is the only one to return so far, and Oxlade-Chamberlain, Keita and James Milner are out of contract next season - meaning there will need to be a midfield overhaul at the end of this campaign.
Virkus, who has been sporting director at Monchengladbach for seven months, made the following statement on Kone’s future on bulinews.com:
“I’d be lying if I said we would never sell him [Kone]. There have already been inquiries for Manu,” he said. “But we don’t have to sell him yet. Above all: we don’t want to sell him yet."
"The boy must want to take his next step to a club that is significantly bigger than Gladbach. And we also have to be satisfied.”
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From Virkus’ comments, it seems as if Kone will only leave if the deal suits his current club - with the finances on the 21-year-old expected to be significantly more than the approximately £8m fee they paid for his services.
According to Transfermarkt, he is valued at £22.5m.
Liverpool won’t be the only horse in the race for Kone, with Media Foot also claiming that Newcastle United could be interested in making him a Magpie in January.
Chris Stonadge