Premier League giants Liverpool have reportedly opened talks with AC Milan playmaker HakanCalhanoglu who has been labelled the new Mesut Ozil.
The Liverpool interest in Calhanoglu was revealed by Italian publication Calciomercatowho stated that the Reds have held talks with the representatives of the Turkish national team maestro.
Liverpool are not the only Premier League club interested in Calhanoglu after Milan Live confirmed that North London giants Arsenal have been speaking to the agent of the 27-year-old Turkish international. Arsenal have already experienced the real Mesut Ozil as the German was at the club until he departed for Fenerbahce in the Turkish Super League in January.
Arsenal signed Ozil from Real Madrid in the summer of 2013 and the Gunners made a big statement with his transfer. Arsenal paid around £42m for him and he was the catalyst as the North Londoners ended their nine-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup title in 2014 via the 3-2 win over Hull City in the final.
Ozil and Arsenal won three more FA Cup titles during his time at the club which ended earlier this year after he agreed to leave by mutual consent with six months still remaining on the lucrative three-year deal he signed in 2018.
Calhanoglu has shown his quantities as a playmaker in the Mesut Ozil for clubs like Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga and AC Milan in the Italian Serie A. He was a regular in the Milan team that secured a return to Champions League football at the end of the latest Serie A season.
The aforementioned publication confirmed that he will leave Milan at the end of his contract this summer. His agent, Gordon Stipic is said to be holding out for a free transfer contract worth €5m on a yearly basis for his client.