Transfer news: Dnipro executive director Andriy Rusol '1000% sure' Liverpool will make summer bid for Yevhen Konoplyanka

Rusol also admits that the Ukrainian club will not stand in his way if the Reds make the right offer

Jack de Menezes
Tuesday 04 February 2014 16:21 GMT
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Yevhen Konoplyanka has started talks with Liverpool, but two unnamed Premier League teams are interested
Yevhen Konoplyanka has started talks with Liverpool, but two unnamed Premier League teams are interested

Liverpool may have failed in their attempt to sign Dnipro midfielder Yevhen Konoplyanka before the January transfer deadline last Friday, but the Ukrainian club have admitted that they expect the Reds to return in the summer – and will not stand in their way.

Dnipro’s executive director Andry Rusol has even claimed that he is “a thousand per cent sure” that Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre will make another move for the 24-year-old in the summer.

Rusol spoke out earlier this week to clarify the reasoning as to why the transfer fell through at the last minute, as he claimed that it was not money itself that was the problem but the timing of the deal, as he said the Reds had made their bid too late to complete the deal.

Rusol was reported by various Ukrainian media sources as saying: “I am a thousand percent sure that Liverpool will try again in the summer and then we'll let him go.

“Money was not the problem, the problem was that Liverpool came too late.

“But in the summer everything will be fine. If Liverpool, in the summer, report to us, Yevhen will still go to this club.”

However, Rusol did speak out to deny that club president Igor Kolomoisky has refused to sanction the deal, leading to the 11pm deadline coming too soon for an agreement between the two parties.

“Igor Kolomoisky gave the go-ahead immediately,” admitted Rusol. “It is not our fault, Liverpool representatives could have arrived a day or two earlier.

“Up to the deadline we were waiting for the transfer of money from Liverpool. But this did not happen.”

The Merseyside club had reportedly activated a release clause – believed to be £15m – in Konoplyanka’s contract, but the finer details of exactly why the move broke down is yet to be clarified as Liverpool rejected claims that the blame laid on their part.

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