Southampton, AFC Bournemouth and Ipswich Town are all said to be interested in a Liverpool midfielder who spent the 2023/24 season on loan at Hull City, but is this just agent's talk or does this deal have substance.
The Yorkshire Post are reporting that Liverpool midfielder Tyler Morton is on the radar of Southampton, who will also face competition from several other Premier League clubs.
Morton who will turn 22 in October spent 2022/23 season on loan at Blackburn Rovers where he started 30 games in the Championship plus another 10 off the bench, in the season just gone he went out on loan again to Hull City, where after coming in with 4 games of the season gone, after a few appearances off the bench was pretty much a nailed on first choice, racking up 35 starts plus 4 sub appearances and scoring 3 times plus 5 assists.
Now he is back at parent club Liverpool where chances as of yet have been few and far between, just 1 start and another short appearance off the bench in the Premier League, plus 9 other appearances spread across the FA, League & Champions League, the latter in which he completed the full 90 minutes in his two games.
He is a central midfielder who can play both defensively and also in a more forward role, something that Russell Martin is looking for as he looks to replace Stuart Armstrong.
This has led to several Premier League clubs including Saints said to be monitoring the situation as well as interest on the Continent from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig and the player himself is said to be weighing up his options.
The reports suggest that the player preference would to remain at Anfield, but he knows that competition for places in the midfield is fierce and chances few and far between.
If he goes on a permanent move then Liverpool are said to want £20 million for his services, although his valuation is said to be around half of that.
However this is likely to be his agent pushing him into the picture and trying to generate interest, although with two years experience in the Championship behind him his value is increasing, I would hazard a guess that it is not up to the £20 million mark just yet.
I would see that as a starting point and the player and his agent will be looking to have some leverage for their discussions with Liverpool.
I think the player and indeed perhaps Liverpool might prefer another loan deal, this time perhaps to a Premier League club where he can prove himself at the top level and return to Anfield with a genuine chance of breaking into the first team squad.
But this may not be in his own hands and he could find himself moving on.