Andy Hunter 

Rickie Lambert set to have medical at Liverpool after clubs agree £4.5m fee

Southampton’s 32-year-old England striker is expected to undergo a medical at Liverpool on Saturday after the two clubs agreed a fee
  
  

Southampton forward Rickie Lambert
Southampton forward Rickie Lambert. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images

Rickie Lambert is due to have a medical on Merseyside on Saturday after Southampton accepted a revised offer from Liverpool for their England striker.

The 32-year-old was the subject of a £4m bid, plus add-ons, by the Anfield club on Thursday, after they became aware of the Kirkby-born forward’s availability during their inquiries for Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren. Discussions over the structure of the deal, with Liverpool offering several performance-related payments, continued on Friday when Southampton accepted £4.5m up front plus add-ons.

Lambert will be involved in England’s World Cup warm-up game against Peru at Wembley on Friday and, barring any problems, will then travel to Merseyside to become Brendan Rodgers’ first signing of the summer. He is believed to have agreed personal terms with Liverpool, the team he grew up supporting but who released him as a schoolboy, and the transfer is expected to be completed by Monday.

Liverpool are continuing to pursue Lambert’s Southampton team-mates but have not reached agreement on a fee for the 26-year-old Lallana, who is keen to move to Anfield, or Lovren. The 24-year-old Croatia defender scored Southampton’s winner at Anfield last September.

It is understood further talks with Bayer Leverkusen’s Emre Can over the weekend are likely to give a clearer idea of whether the 20-year-old will also move to Merseyside. Although there is a buy-out clause of about £10m which Liverpool are willing to meet, the Germany Under-21 midfielder’s wage demands are proving a significant stumbling block.

However, what interest the club had in Michel Vorm to provide competition for Simon Mignolet has cooled and they are no longer considering Swansea City’s Dutch goalkeeper as a viable target.

 

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