Liverpool make shock move for Aston Villa’s Luke Young
Roy Hodgson’s recruitment drive at Liverpool shows no sign of ending soon, as the Reds boss agreed a £2.5million fee with Aston Villa for their defender Luke Young last night.
In a surprise move, 31-year-old defender Young has been targeted to help fill the Reds’ problem full-back positions, with Fabio Aurelio released earlier this summer, Emiliano Insúa on the verge of a move to Fiorentina and Philipp Degen told that he is free to leave.
All of which means that Glen Johnson is the only recognised senior full-back at the club, and Hodgson is viewing Young’s ability to play on both the left and right flanks favourably, as he looks to add another homegrown player to his squad following the recent acquisition of Joe Cole.
Villa boss Martin O’Neill is willing to let Young talk to the Reds, and has left him out of the squad that will travel to Portugal on a pre-season tour later today.
Formerly of Tottenham, Charlton and Middlesbrough, Young has won seven England caps, but he revealed last year that he had rejected an offer from Fabio Capello to return to the international fold.
Last season was a difficult one for the full-back, who suffered a succession of injury problems and the personal tragedy of the death of his 17-year-old brother Andre, and he is likely to welcome the chance to become part of Hodgson’s Red revolution, even if he will surely play second fiddle to Johnson at right-back and another signing on the left; Mexican World Cup star Carlos Salcido and Wigan Athletic’s Maynor Figueroa have been linked.
Insúa’s protracted transfer to Fiorentina has been thrown into some doubt however, with the Italians struggling to match his pay demands, but Liverpool still expect the Argentinian to leave, a stance underlined by their decision to give his No. 22 shirt to new Scottish signing Danny Wilson yesterday.
Either Wilson or Stephen Darby are likely to fill the Reds’ problem left-back position in tomorrow’s Europa League qualifying tie with FK Rabotnicki in Macedonia, with the signs pointing to Hodgson sticking with many of the young talents who have featured in the club’s pre-season friendlies so far this summer.
He’s still unable to call upon his brightest young star though, with Daniel Pacheco preparing for Spain’s Under-19 European Championship final against hosts France on Friday night, fresh from helping mastermind a 3-1 win over England yesterday.
Pacheco’s goal in that game was his fourth of the tournament, making him the top scorer, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed back in his homeland, where Real Sociedad are lining up a loan deal for the attacker, while Espanyol are also interested in Argentina winger Maxi Rodriguez.
Tags: