Transfer Centre

Liverpool 'hold talks over Serge Gnabry deal'

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 04 June 2022

Liverpool reportedly begin talks with the representatives of Bayern Munich attacker Serge Gnabry as Sadio Mane inches closer to a summer exit from Anfield.

Liverpool have reportedly held talks over the possibility of bringing Bayern Munich attacker Serge Gnabry to the club this summer.

The former Arsenal youngster has entered the final 18 months of his contract with the German champions and is seemingly edging closer to an exit from the Allianz Arena.

Bayern are said to have tabled a final renewal offer to Gnabry in recent days, which would see the 26-year-old pocket €10m (£8.6m) per year in Bavaria.

However, the club are yet to receive a response from Gnabry, who could therefore be sold in the coming weeks in order to avoid the prospect of a free transfer next year.

With uncertainty lingering over Sadio Mane's future at the club, Liverpool have been strongly linked with a move for Gnabry ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Serge Gnabry celebrates scoring for Bayern Munich in January 2022 © Reuters

According to Anfield Central - via The Mirror - Liverpool have now initiated contact with the entourage of the Germany international to discuss a summer transfer.

The report states that Bayern will reluctantly be forced to accept a relatively low figure for Gnabry's departure given his contract situation, despite the £68m price-tag they have cited.

A fee as low as £30m could be enough to prise Gnabry back to the Premier League, and Arsenal have also been tipped to reunite with their former starlet, but Real Madrid are understood to have withdrawn their interest.

Gnabry came up with 17 goals and 10 assists in 45 appearances for Julian Nagelsmann's side in the 2021-22 season, starting 25 Bundesliga games and appearing as a substitute in a further nine.

The attacker has now amassed a total of 64 goals and 40 assists in 171 games for the club since joining in 2017 from Werder Bremen, winning four Bundesliga titles, the Champions League, the Club World Cup and two DFB-Pokals in that period.

Liverpool's Sadio Mane celebrates scoring their third goal on May 3, 2022 © Reuters

While Mohamed Salah has confirmed that he will not be leaving Liverpool this summer, Mane has strongly hinted that his time with the Merseyside giants is up.

The 30-year-old recently responded to a social media poll in which a large portion of Senegalese fans voted for him to leave Liverpool, and the attacker has affirmed that he will respect their wishes.

"Like everyone else, I'm on social media and I see the comments. Isn't it between 60 to 70% of Senegalese that want me to leave Liverpool? I will do what they want. We will see soon! Don't be in a hurry because we'll see this together," Mane responded following the poll.

Bayern are considered the frontrunners to sign Mane from Liverpool this summer, but as things stand there is nothing to suggest that either the Senegal man or Gnabry could be used in a swap or part-exchange deal for one another.

Villarreal's Arnaut Danjuma, Barcelona's Ousmane Dembele, Chelsea's Christian Pulisic and Rennes' Martin Terrier have all been mentioned as potential replacements for Mane at Liverpool as well as Gnabry, whose time at Arsenal saw him score one goal and set up one more in 11 Premier League appearances.