Liverpool may cost themselves the chance to sign £87m player if they beat Aston Villa
Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Rousing the Kop or go back to LFC Live.
Liverpool travel to Villa Park tonight for their penultimate Premier League game of the season, with fourth and fifth place still to be settled.Aston Villa are also in the Europa League final, which means there are several moving parts in the Champions League race. Can you make a better front line to take on Aston Villa? 👀 RTK predicted XI (2) Liverpool beating Aston Villa could ruin Eli Junior Kroupi chanceLiverpool have been linked with Kroupi, but Bournemouth have made their current stance very clear.The 19-year-old has had a superb season, and Bournemouth director Tiago Pinto has already insisted he will not be sold this summer.
But Bournemouth’s stance could harden significantly if Liverpool beat Villa on Friday night.The logic is simple.If Liverpool win at Villa Park, Villa are likely to finish fifth. If Unai Emery’s side then go on to win the Europa League, they would qualify for the Champions League through that route.Because England already has an extra Champions League place through the league table, sixth place could then inherit a spot in the competition.Right now, that is very likely to be Bournemouth.So by beating Villa, Liverpool would boost their own top-four hopes, but also potentially improve Bournemouth’s chances of playing Champions League football next season.
Kroupi would have a platform, regular football, and no urgent reason to force a move away.If Villa beat Liverpool, the picture changes.Villa could move into fourth, Liverpool would likely finish fifth and still qualify for the Champions League themselves, and crucially, sixth would not carry the same reward.That would leave Bournemouth in a weaker position. They need to beat Aston Villa and secure their own place in the Champions League, but it will be interesting to see just how far the consequences of this game stretch.A win could help Liverpool in the table, while quietly making one of their summer transfer targets even harder to get.READ MORE: Napoli have now made two offers to sign £87m Liverpool target this summerJoin Our NewsletterReceive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox