There have been plenty of bumps within the street for Liverpool this season, however there was some festive cheer as of late at Anfield.
Certainly, Arne Slot‘s males have not tasted defeat since a sobering 4-1 Champions League humiliation by the hands of PSV Eindhoven, with the Reds displaying loads of struggle and high quality to show round their as soon as sticky scenario.
Hugo Ekitike, particularly, has shone in current Premier League wins over Brighton and Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur, with three objectives collected, seeing Match of the Day pundit Shay Given hail him because the “actual deal” in assault.
Liverpool will not be content material, although, with the personnel making up their ahead positions, as Alexander Isak now appears to be like set for a prolonged absence on the sidelines, leading to a brand new striker goal showing on the Reds’ purchasing listing…
Liverpool eye up transfer for £70m striker
It has now been revealed that Isak can be out for a number of months with a severe damage he sustained towards Spurs, as his nightmare begin on Merseyside solely will get worse.
Shedding the £125m attacker for a major time frame means Liverpool will certainly should exit in January to recruit a contemporary physique up prime, with the top-flight’s second prime scorer in Brentford’s Igor Thiago reportedly catching their eye.
A report from Caught Offside has revealed that Slot’s reigning champions are monitoring Thiago as they go about chasing after attacking reinforcements, with Antoine Semenyo additionally nonetheless on their radar regardless of the chance being he indicators for Manchester Metropolis.
Brentford are famous as being hesitant to half methods with one in all their fundamental stars mid-way via a season, although, with an audacious £70m price ticket now above the previous Membership Brugge man’s head.
Nonetheless, this might be the value Liverpool should fork out in the event that they need to signal one of many division’s most in-form forwards, with the Reds not regretting their pursuit of Sadio Mane one bit again in 2016, having poached the now Al-Nassr ahead from decrease down the division in Southampton, solely to mould him right into a modern-day legend.
How Thiago could be Slot’s personal Mane
Mane value a excessive £36m to acquire in the summertime of 2016, having stood out as a energetic attacker for the Saints, very like Thiago is now displaying off on the G-Tech Neighborhood Stadium.
With hindsight on aspect, Mane was solely simply getting began within the Premier League at St. Mary’s, with 25 objectives and ten assists from 75 appearances on the South Coast, sufficient to catch Liverpool’s eye.
He would then go on to blow these numbers out of the water at Anfield, with the Senegal attacker reaching a shocking 120 objectives and 46 assists for Liverpool, earlier than his sensational journey ran out on Merseyside in 2022.
Nonetheless, his former Reds supervisor Jurgen Klopp can be proper in his evaluation that the winger is one in all “Liverpool’s biggest ever gamers”, having fired house some essential objectives to raise the FA Cup, Champions League, and Premier League throughout his glittering keep.
Through the title-winning season of 2019/20 alone, Mane would chip in with a weighty 18 league strikes, as he was additional famous as being a “world-class” finisher by the German, and deserving of being within the “similar bracket” because the division’s best-ever strikers when reaching a century of Anfield objectives, by ex-Liverpool teammate Georginio Wijnaldum.
After all, Thiago, proper now, is a way off being this revered within the Premier League however like Mane did decrease down the top-flight, he is made one hell of an impression.
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Thiago’s PL numbers for Brentford (25/26) |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Thiago |
|
Video games performed |
17 |
|
Targets scored |
11 |
|
Assists |
0 |
|
Scoring frequency |
128 minutes |
|
Objective conversion % |
31% |
|
Huge probabilities missed |
8 |
|
Stats by Sofascore |
|
However with a devastating 11 league objectives picked up this season already for Keith Andrew’s Bees, the “phenomenal” marksman – as he has been rightly praised by his supervisor – is displaying why he’s deserving of such a bumper £70m transfer, to try to replicate Mane’s jaw-dropping feats.
He even scooped up November’s Participant of the Month accolade for your complete league, together with his constant “magnificent” performances for the West London outfit – as Andrews has additionally waxed lyrical – certainly making him hungry for a step-up, with Mane not trying again by any means when deserting Southampton all these years in the past.
Stepping up to speed for Brentford this season, after each Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa left the constructing in fast succession, additionally reveals off a striker who can thrive underneath stress, as Thiago maybe will get a Mane-style large break in January if Liverpool are available for his providers.
Semenyo different: Liverpool maintain talks to signal their finest LW since Mane
Liverpool have earmarked options because the race for Antoine Semenyo ramps up.
