Liverpool have agreed a £12.5m deal to sign Southampton star Nathaniel Clyne subject to a medical, reports the Liverpool Echo.
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The Reds have long been linked to the 24-year-old, and he will likely be a replacement for the departed Glen Johnson. A long-term knee injury suffered by Jon Flanagan means that the need for a new right-back was especially urgent.
According to Echo journalist James Pearce, the England international is set to sign a five-year deal at Anfield, and will be having his medical when he returns from holiday.
Nathaniel Clyne set to sign a five-year contract at Anfield. Medical likely to be next week when he has returned from holiday. #LFC
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) June 25, 2015
The defender is Brendan Rodgers’s sixth signing of the summer after James Milner, Danny Ings, Adam Bogdan, Joe Gomez, and Roberto Firmino. This heavy recruitment seems to be in reaction to their disappointing 2014/15 season; after hoping to finish in the top four they came sixth, and also dropped out of the two domestic cup competitions at the semi-final stage. In the Champions League they failed to get out of their group and were also quickly eliminated from the Europa League in a disappointing defeat to Besiktas.
Clyne should certainly be able to improve their back line, having been part of an impressive Saints defence last time round. The South Coast club conceded just 33 goals in the top flight, with the player featuring in 35 of the matches from the start. His form was also good enough for Roy Hodgson to give him his national team debut against Slovenia in November and he looks likely to nail down the England right-back position for the foreseeable future.
Liverpool will be hoping this signing, should it go through, will prove a more successful raid on Southampton than their signings of Rickie Lambert and Dejan Lovren last year, while Adam Lallana could also have arguably contributed more in his first season on Merseyside.