Matheus Nunes links to Liverpool make sense after…

Matheus Nunes links to Liverpool make sense after Jurgen Klopp midfield transfer comment

It should come as little surprise to see Liverpool's name linked alongside Sporting's Matheus Nunes on Monday.

The Reds are currently experiencing something of an injury crisis just one game into the Premier League season, with midfield - the area many already wanted strengthening prior to the mounting absentee list - being most affected.

Curtis Jones, to quote Jurgen Klopp, has suffered a "stress reaction" in his calf and was pictured in a protective boot at the recent friendly defeat to Strasbourg at Anfield. Naby Keita's illness means he is able to return to training this week, but the Guinea midfielder has rarely been without his own issues throughout his four years on Merseyside.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's last kick of a ball in a Liverpool shirt came on July 15 when he pulled up injured after a tame shot at goal against Crystal Palace in Singapore, while Thiago Alcantara lasted just 50 minutes of the Premier League opener at Fulham on Saturday lunchtime.

The Reds are awaiting the results of a scan on a potential hamstring issue for the Spain international, another player whose natural gifts do not include a robust quality. So links to a new midfielder were inevitable in the transfer gossip columns on Monday, particularly with the window still open for the remainder of the month.

“We will see," Klopp said on that particular topic at Craven Cottage on Saturday. "A transfer must make sense now and in the long-term. We have eight midfielders. We still have enough midfielders. It’s not that we lack midfielders, it’s just [that] some of them are injured. This isn’t a good situation, I don’t like it at all. We have to see how we react on that, but for sure not panic."

Portugal is a market the Reds' recruitment team have increasingly looked to in recent years. This calendar year alone they have spent over £100m to bring Darwin Nunez (£64m) and Luis Diaz (£37m) to the club. Both players could eventually see their total outlays rise to £85m and £50m, respectively.

With assistant manager Pep Lijnders having built up an extensive network of contacts in Portuguese football during his eight years at Porto, the Reds will have ample knowledge of that particular market.

Throw in the fact that new sporting director Julian Ward has previously worked with both the Portuguese national side and as a scout for the region while at Manchester City and it means links to Sporting's £45m-rated Nunes cannot be entirely dismissed without foundation.

Liverpool also enjoy a healthy working relationship with Nunes' agency, Gestifute - a bond that was only strengthened when Ward held successful talks with Jorge Mendes over Diogo Jota's recent contract extension - and it is easy to see why the midfielder is being named in connection to Klopp's team.

The latest from Portuguese publication Correio da Manha is that Wolves, a team who readily deal with Mendes and his extensive list of clients, are interested in Nunes but that the player himself is holding out for either Manchester City or Liverpool.

That same website claimed last week that there is no official proposal on the table for Sporting where Nunes is concerned but now Wolves are stepping up their efforts.

Nunes is quoted as saying after Saturday's 3-3 draw with Braga: "The manager treats everyone equally. I'm sure you'd hear all the players say the same. Do I want to stay? Absolutely!"

Much of the scouting of the Portuguese teams is undertaken with a view to seeing how a player performs in the bigger fixtures - ie in the Champions League - and given how wide-ranging and in-depth the club's reports go, Nunes will certainly have been discussed at some point, given his age, profile and ability.

It remains to be seen, however, if anything more concrete develops between now and the end of the summer transfer window.

READ NEXT:

Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.

Already a member? Sign in here