Liverpool able to bid for £51m ace

Liverpool received the Premier League final season, and they’re performing prefer it. Arne Slot‘s aspect have spent loads this summer time, and there may be extra nonetheless to return, with FSG recognising the significance of consolidating this place of energy.

With Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike on the cusp of sealing his £79m transfer to Merseyside, Liverpool have the Darwin Nunez improve they crave.

Although a lot work has been plied in the summertime market, there may be extra to be finished. Luis Diaz is slated to maneuver to Bayern Munich, in any case.

Ought to he depart, there isn’t any query that the Reds might want to discover themselves a alternative.

Liverpool’s shortlist of Diaz replacements

With Diaz wanting increasingly more likely to depart Liverpool this summer time, the likes of Actual Madrid’s Rodrygo and Newcastle United star Anthony Gordon have been touted as potential replacements.

The issue with such targets is that they might price a steep sum of money. Maybe too steep. Whereas Liverpool might pull such offers off and stay inside revenue and sustainability good books, wouldn’t it not be extra worthwhile to focus on an up-and-comer for a shrewder determine, with a lot high quality already inside Slot’s squad?

That is why the Reds are seemingly able to lodge a bid for Lyon’s Malick Fofana, who has been making waves in Ligue 1 over the previous 18 months.

Based on experiences, the sale of Chiesa will advance FSG’s switch plans, with the Belgium winger having been on Liverpool’s radar for a lot of months. The Merseysiders are “anticipated to maneuver for the Belgian” as soon as the Italian departs.

Lyon worth the 20-year-old as excessive as £51m, however Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes will likely be set on securing his signature for a less expensive payment, chopped into instalments.

Why Liverpool ought to signal Malick Fofana

Fofana is a high expertise, however he isn’t but even sighted the horizon on which his full potential is surmounted. Nonetheless, throughout 62 appearances with Lyon (whom he joined from Belgium membership Genk in January 2024), he is scored 15 targets and equipped seven assists.

Final time period, the versatile winger hit 17 purpose contributions regardless of solely beginning 23 matches throughout all competitions.

There is a lengthy solution to go, however Fofana may even emerge as an excellent larger expertise than Ekitike in the long term, who’s at an extra stage of their improvement proper now, true, however with Fofana already doing in addition to he has over the previous few years, there’s little query that he may very well be among the many most interesting wideman in soccer in just some years.

And how Slot succeeds at teaching younger skills to unbelievable ranges, that is underscored additional. Journalist Antonio Mango has drawn consideration to Fofana’s “game-changing potential”, whereas journalist Dev Bajwa has praised his “electrical” tempo.

Ought to Liverpool promote Diaz, that is the person to go for. And that is with out even shining a lightweight on Cody Gakpo, who performed with regularity off the left flank for Slot’s crew final time period and thus would ease the burden {that a} teen like Fofana would shoulder when making their approach onto the senior Premier League stage.

You want solely take a look at Ekitike’s development lately. The 23-year-old left Reims for Paris Saint-Germain in a £30m deal in 2022 (rejecting Newcastle United) the place he acquired misplaced within the crowd and jumped over to the Bundesliga, with Frankfurt.

Ekitike’s closing time period in Ligue 1 was with PSG in 2022/23, and from that peripheral marketing campaign you maybe do not get probably the most correct gauge on his ability set throughout that youthful stage in his homeland.

However the season earlier than, with Reims, makes a firmer remark. From that, we are able to study the teenage Frenchman’s high quality and see how he compares to Fofana, who turned 20 in March.

Ekitike is a centre-forward, however he is cell and athletically dynamic. At that time in his journey, the soon-to-be Liverpool star was fielded out on the left, arcing inwards in a displaying of that pure predilection for goalscoring.

Each, moreover, are agency defensive presences, tackling at a charge that bespeaks their high quality as their aspect’s first line of defence.

However targets are Fofana’s forte, and his innate medical edge might see him turn into an much more harmful pressure than Ekitike, who’s three years his senior.

Fofana ranked among the many high 10% of attacking midfielders and wingers throughout Europe’s high 5 leagues final season for non-penalty targets scored and the highest 2% for progressive carries per 90, as per FBref, completely illustrating that whipped mix of tempo and efficiency.

A carry is taken into account progressive if the ball is moved in direction of the opponent’s purpose at the very least 10 yards from its place to begin or is carried into the penalty space.

It goes with out saying that there can be a interval of transition wherein Fofana wouldn’t carry out with the sleek completeness of Diaz, not look on the identical stage as Ekitike (who may himself require a little bit of time to adapt to the tempo of the English recreation).

However, nonetheless, Liverpool might strike gold by opting in opposition to spending one thing within the £100m ballpark on one in every of Gordon or Rodrygo and as a substitute spending a extra astute determine on Fofana, who’s younger and gifted and hungry to show himself.

It will be a greater deal in the long term, and one which might see Liverpool benefit from the fruits of their labour which could have grown the vast ahead into one in every of Europe’s most feared gamers all the identical.