Spurs, Liverpool and Manchester United still linked with Konoplyanka

Remember Yevhen Konoplyanka? He's that tricky Ukrainian winger that we've been linked to along with Liverpool for at least six months. Liverpool nearly signed him last January, before the deal fell apart, then it appeared that we were making a play for him as well and then that didn't happen either. Well, it appears that we're still linked to him: The Express is reporting that Konoplyanka is set to leave Dnipro this summer, and all that remains is to, well, find him a home.

Konoplyanka actually leaving Ukraine is a decently reputable rumor, considering these quotes from Dnipro sporting director Andrey Stetsenko:

"Our scouts are working to find his replacement... Sooner or later Konoplyanka will leave Dnipro.

We know that English, Spanish and German clubs are monitoring the situation and are interested in the player. But we have no offers. His contract has a buy out clause worth £12m for foreign clubs. For Ukrainian clubs the buy out is more."

So, did you catch that? Konoplyanka can be purchased for his buy-out clause of £12m, but as of yet, nobody's actually bid for him. However, "English, Spanish and German clubs" is English media code for "Spurs and Liverpool," and since we've already been linked to him, let's go ahead and throw them into the rumor bin. Heck, let's add United too because they were crap last season and who knows what Van Gaal will do.

Konoplyanka is a pretty good player as he displayed in the Europa League matches against us last season, and he'd almost certainly be a replacement for Aaron Lennon should he sign. However, I still have a hard time believing that Daniel Levy would pony up the £12m buy-out clause for a player that pretty clearly wants to leave Ukraine. Also considering that we're not really in the market for a winger anymore (can he play left back?), I'd be surprised if we'll actually see #kono2014 in lilywhite this fall. Take this rumor with an entire salt mine for now.