Christian Heidel brushes off Liverpool interest in signing Schalke trio

Schalke sporting director Christian Heidel has brushed off Liverpool's interest in signing Max Meyer, Leon Goretzka and Sead Kolasinac saying he would know ahead of the media owing to his close relationship with Jurgen Klopp.

The Bundesliga outfit's sporting director worked with Klopp when the latter was the manager at Mainz and still maintains a close relationship with the Reds boss. Liverpool will strengthen their squad in the summer and have been linked with moves for all three aforementioned players in recent months.

German midfield duo Meyer and Goretzka have been impressive for Schalke this season despite the club languishing in 11<sup>th place in the Bundesliga. Their form has attracted the interest of bigger clubs around Europe.

Tottenham Hotspur are among the clubs interested in the former and they could challenge Liverpool for his signature in the summer. Both the players will enter the final year of their contracts this summer and if a new deal is not agreed, the club could be forced to cash in to avoid losing them on a free next year.

Bosnian left-back Kolasinac, on the other hand, is out of contract this summer and is unlikely to sign a new deal. The 23-year-old was a subject of interest from Chelsea during the January transfer window this year, while reports in his homeland suggest he has agreed a pre-contract with Arsenal ahead of a summer switch to the Emirates.

Liverpool signed Joel Matip on a free transfer from Schalke last summer, but Heidel is confident that the Merseyside club are not plotting moves for the trio at the moment. He is confident that he will be informed by his former colleague and good friend Klopp, if the Reds do intend to make an official approach.

"I happen to know some guy in Liverpool quite well," Heidel told German publication RevierSport, as translated by Goal.

"Jurgen and I have such a good relationship that I have always been in the loop on everything. This time I do not know anything. That means the English media knows nothing either.

"I do not know who the Liverpool scouts are monitoring. Not even Klopp always knows what they are up to," the Schalke sporting director added.