Remarkably, Liverpool‘s unbelievable summer time of spending has but to depart Arne Slot‘s squad with an air of completeness.
Significantly, Virgil van Dijk‘s central defence is moderately mild, particularly now that Joe Gomez has suffered a minor Achilles harm following the £35m sale of Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen.
Then flip your head towards the frontline. The unbelievable additions of rising superstars resembling Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike counsel that Liverpool are shaping as much as have one of many deadliest frontlines within the sport (in the event that they did not already).
Nonetheless, Luis Diaz left for Bayern Munich final month, and now, Darwin Nunez is on the verge of completing a permanent transfer to Al Hilal within the Saudi Professional League.
With Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott each mooted to be off, it isn’t fascinating however crucial that Liverpool add one other attacker to their combine, and FSG seem to have one or two show-stopping names in thoughts.
Liverpool chasing one other ahead
The dream switch goal is, in fact, Alexander Isak. You may need heard that Liverpool are interested in signing the Newcastle United striker, and hearsay has it he is moderately eager on the journey towards Anfield too.
Sadly, Newcastle’s switch market has been a pitiful factor, with Eddie Howe little question feeling sizzling below the collar. Any variety of high targets have been missed on Tyneside, and with Benjamin Sesko now hoping to sign for Manchester United, Isak’s sale is much less sure, for a dependable alternative should be signed, else he won’t go away.
Final month’s initial £69m signing of Hugo Ekitike has tempered Liverpool’s want for the Premier League famous person, however it might nonetheless be a shocking signing.
Nonetheless, sporting director Richard Hughes is a person of deep nous, and he hasn’t positioned all his eggs in a single basket. Liverpool are rising as contenders for Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola, although finishing a summer time deal shall be tough certainly.
If neither transfer involves fruition, there’s an alternative choice ready within the wings who is perhaps excellent for Slot’s system.
Liverpool in for for Barcola improve
According to L’Equipe, Liverpool are within the race to signal Actual Madrid winger Rodrygo, who has additionally attracted curiosity from Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
Rodrygo, 24, has been anticipated to depart the Santiago Bernabeu this summer time, having struggled for type final 12 months and slid down the early pecking order because the Xabi Alonso period shapes up.
Liverpool’s curiosity in Barcola may need simply turn out to be public, however their admiration for Rodrygo additionally has substance, and the South American’s suspected price ticket has been reported to fall into the region of £78m.
Why Liverpool wish to signal Rodrygo
Rodrygo got here below hearth for his performances with Los Blancos final season. Such is his stage; such are the expectations at Actual Madrid.
His 25-goal contribution return nonetheless matched that of Diaz and Cody Gakpo at Liverpool, maybe illustrating the calibre of ahead Slot would add to his ranks, on par with the Reds crop but able to a lot extra.
And on condition that he would probably play as a left-sided ahead, a uncommon expertise lately at Actual Madrid, Rodrygo’s want to maneuver to Anfield, ought to he transfer in any respect, is comprehensible, for he notched six goals and six assists from solely 12 video games as a left winger final 12 months.
Though Actual Madrid’s selfless famous person had been performed out of place for almost all of the current season, he nonetheless managed to impress, with former teammate Luka Modric even claiming he is without doubt one of the membership’s “world-class superstars.”
When collating his seasonal information with Barcola’s, you maybe start to see that his underlying high quality suggests he would rise to the next stage than Barcola may.
Rodrygo vs Bradley Barcola (previous one year) | ||
|---|---|---|
Stats (per 90) | ||
Objectives | 0.35 | 0.47 |
Assists | 0.22 | 0.39 |
Photographs taken | 2.54 | 2.89 |
Shot-creating actions | 4.56 | 4.24 |
Cross completion | 85.7% | 81.9% |
Touches (att pen) | 5.84 | 8.95 |
Progressive passes | 4.69 | 3.33 |
Progressive carries | 5.07 | 5.45 |
Profitable take-ons | 2.15 | 1.74 |
Information by way of FBref | ||
There isn’t any denying that Barcola has loved the higher season, profitable the quadruple with PSG and notching 42 goal contributions across all competitions.
However when digging deeper, it turns into clear that Rodrygo is the superior participant of the 2, and on condition that they each fall into an analogous monetary ballpark, is the one Liverpool should push for.
For instance, the French winger is thought to be a silky, high-speed dribbler, however he averaged just one dribble per match in Ligue 1 final 12 months and, extra concerningly, at successful price of simply 27%, as per Sofascore.
In truth, FBref additionally document that he ranked among the many backside 4% of attacking midfielders and wingers throughout all of Europe final season for take-on success price, underscoring the quantity of failed efforts to drive the ball ahead.
A profitable take-on is recorded when a participant beats their opponent by instantly carrying the ball previous them whereas retaining possession.
That is to not negate his high quality; Barcola has simply performed an instrumental position in a Champions League-winning marketing campaign in spite of everything. Nonetheless, Rodrygo is aware of his means round Europe’s elite competitors, a two-time champion and a power to be reckoned with on the enterprise finish too.
Barcola, furthermore, has but to shine his taking pictures boots. Although he scored 17 targets throughout PSG’s Ligue 1 and Champions League campaigns, he additionally missed a whopping 33 big chances.
Conversely, Rodrygo solely missed three big chances, albeit he additionally netted simply 11 occasions throughout his disappointing season. Nonetheless, that makes a robust touch upon his prolific skill.
When he is on his A-game, the Brazil worldwide is “unstoppable”, so says Madrid columnist Kiyan Sobhani.
Finally, the truth that Liverpool followers are mulling over whether or not they fancy Barcola or Rodrygo as potential options to Isak, having already signed Wirtz, Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Giorgi Mamardashvili, illustrates simply how far this membership has come.
The Premier League champions are in probably the most enviable of positions, but when given the choose of the bunch, Hughes would possibly wish to transfer for Rodrygo over Barcola.
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