Reds weigh up Donnelly bid

Liverpool are in a three-way battle with Everton and Swansea City for highly-rated Cliftonville striker Rory Donnelly.

The Belfast club have already accepted an offer of around £100,000 from Swansea City for the Northern Ireland Under-21 international and the Reds are expected to match that bid.

Cliftonville are resigned to losing the talented 19-year-old and want his future sorted out before Christmas. Donnelly was in Wales yesterday to discuss a possible move with Swans boss Brendan Rodgers but Liverpool are still hoping to win the race for his signature.

Cliftonville chairman Gerard Lawlor says Kenny Dalglish has been in touch over a potential deal.

"It's not every day you get Kenny Dalglish ringing you and asking how the Reds got on at the weekend," Lawlor said.

"Unsurprisingly, his main reason for phoning was to declare an interest in Rory Donnelly. He made it clear that Liverpool want to sign him and that they would be back in touch.

"We always said that, as much as we would love to keep him at Solitude, we would not stand in Rory's way if the opportunity of a move to full-time football came along.

"We have held a number of discussions with various interested parties over these last few weeks but I'll admit that getting a phonecall from Kenny Dalglish threw me a little bit - it took a wee while before I realised it was actually him and not somebody messing me about."

Source: Liverpool Echo

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