Manquillo makes Anfield move, while Reina nears Liverpool exit

Premier League fifth-favourites Liverpool (12/1 – a market best price) have finally got their man, Javier Manquillo, from Atletico Madrid on a two-year loan deal, with the Reds having the option to buy him after the first season.

The 20-year-old right back said: “I’m very happy to have signed for a club like Liverpool. I think it’s one of the biggest in Europe. Any footballer would want to come and play here.

“When they tell you Liverpool want to sign you, I think like any player, you are going to be absolutely amazed and you don’t think of anything else than going straight there.

“The immediate objective is to do the best I possibly can here. I’ve come here to try and secure a place for myself in the side and, if possible, stay here for many more years in the future.”

While the Spain Under-20 international becomes Liverpool’s seventh summer signing, after Rickie Lambert, Emre Can, Adam Lallana, Lazar Markovic, Dejan Lovren and Divock Origi, a long-serving Red looks set to leave.

Goalkeeper Pepe Reina, 31, is currently having a medical at Bayern Munich ahead of a reported bargain £2.5m move, which would see him be understudy to World Cup Golden Glove winner Manuel Neuer.

The German giants’ chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: “The player will come to Munich in the next few days for a medical exam and to sign his contract. Pepe Reina was eager to come to Bayern Munich.

“He wanted to embark on this adventure even though he knows that, in Manuel Neuer, he has a keeper in front of him who, if nothing changes, will always remain the number one.”

Elsewhere, in the Championship, Blackpool are finally beginning to bring players in, following the recent loan signing of their only goalkeeper so far this summer. The Tangerines have managed to recruit former Manchester City striker Ishmael Miller on a permanent deal, while midfielder John Lundstram joins for the season from Everton.

The club now have a total of 18 in their senior squad, 10 more than they had at one point this summer, after 27 players left, and go into their first league game of the season at Nottingham Forest as 8/1 shots to win.