Mats Wieffer transfer confirmed after Liverpool's 'last-ditch' attempt to sign midfielder

Liverpool may yet decide to dip into the transfer market for a holding midfielder. But Arne Slot will not reunite with Mats Wieffer, after his move to another Premier League side was confirmed .

It had been claimed by De Telegraaf in the Netherlands that Slot was still "pushing" for an 11th-hour move that would have seen Wieffer follow him from Feyenoord to Liverpool. But whether or not that was true, we now know for sure that there will be no dramatic hijack.

The first wave of Liverpool players have returned for pre-season, meaning Slot can start to assess the midfield need. Alexis Mac Allister , Dominik Szoboszlai , Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo all arrived last summer, but there's a feeling that Liverpool may still be lacking a long-term solution in the number six role.

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However, Brighton and Hove Albion have confirmed the signing of Wieffer, so he won't be coming through the door at Anfield . The fee is undisclosed, but Reuters cites local media reports that peg the price at $32m (£25m/€30m).

That may well prove to be astute business for someone Slot has said took a "mega leap" in his development recently. Brighton does usually buy well, after all. Slot even claimed that if Wieffer can make the same leap again, he will be "the best player in the world." While that was clearly a way of underlining the improvements already made, it's not hard to see why Liverpool has been linked.

Brighton's technical director David Weir issued a statement. He joined Slot in singing Wieffer's praises: "We’re delighted to welcome Mats to the club, a player whose qualities we have admired for a long time," Weir said. “He has a lot of experience in the Champions League as well as the Eredivisie and has developed into one of the best deep-lying midfielders in Europe.

“We obviously have Dutch players here already in Bart Verbruggen, Jan Paul van Hecke and Joel Veltman and I’m sure they will help Mats settle into the club. We’re looking forward to helping Mats’ career develop with Brighton.”

Liverpool.com says: This won't strictly become "one that got away", because there were never really concrete reports of Liverpool's interest. But it will certainly be interesting to see how he develops at Brighton.

It does seem like a position where Liverpool needs to strengthen. And if the Seagulls think Wieffer is the next big thing, there's a good chance they are on to something. On paper, at least, a reunion with Slot would have made quite a lot of sense.