Swansea looking for midfielder to return to Wales
Liverpool have rejected an £8million bid from Swansea for midfielder Joe Allen.
Allen arrived at Liverpool from Swansea 4 years ago and has been through a mixed career at Anfield. He was signed for £15million as Brendan Rodgers’ first signing as Liverpool manager, being branded ‘the Welsh Xavi’ by the Northern Irishman.
His first couple of seasons were met with criticism from Reds’ fans, and he struggled to get into the team consistently even under the manager who signed him. However, since the departure of Steven Gerrard, Allen has found himself with more opportunities and impressed under Jurgen Klopp in the 2015/16 season.
He’s currently out representing his country, Wales, at Euro 2016, and will play against Northern Ireland in a round of 16 clash tonight.
Wales international team-mate and former Swansea clubmate Neil Taylor would love Allen back in South Wales.
After the Reds midfielder’s eye of a needle pass for Aaron Ramsey against Russia, Taylor said: “I was saying the other day if somebody else from another team had played that pass that Joe did through to Aaron Ramsey, if it was a Spanish player or somebody like that,
“And I know it has been raved about here, with Joe with how well he’s done. But Joey is very underrated.”
Gareth Bale was even more fulsome in his praise.
“I can’t really speak highly enough of him,” Bale said.
An £8million bid was rejected by Liverpool last week, and they are willing to listen to offers of £10million and above. However, no second offer from the Swans has been put on the table yet.
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10
