Liverpool have little to no chance of signing Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella this summer, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

The Italian, who has been capped 39 times by his country, has been consistently linked with a switch to Anfield in recent months but, despite being keen admirers of the player, Romano claims the Reds won’t have much luck if they make an offer for Barella:

“There’s been talk of long-term interest from Liverpool in Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella, but unfortunately it doesn’t go much further than that, Reds fans, So far, there are no proposals or negotiations between Liverpool and Inter Milan. Barella extended his contract with Inter a few months ago and the club sees him as the captain of the future. I think it’s a more than difficult deal for this summer so we’ll see what happens in the future; for now Barella is only focused on Inter Milan.”

It is not a surprising development. While Inter do need to balance the books, the Serie A side are more likely to offload the likes of Milan Skriniar and Denzel Dumfries, who are attracting the interest of Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea respectively.

As Romano points out, Barella’s decision to sign a new deal back in November signalled his intention to remain at the San Siro. It means that Liverpool will have a very difficult time persuading the player or his club into doing a deal.