In the past year or two, Liverpool has made it a habit of bringing in guys no one would have anticipated. Nobody would have predicted the Reds signing a veteran from the lowest echelons of the Bundesliga even if they had been able to finalize a deal for Moisés Caicedo or Roméo Lavia, despite the fact that Wataru End was obviously not the first-choice option.
Similar to how Liverpool fans begged their side to add midfield reinforcements last season, the club decided to spend a lot of money on players like Darwin Nez and Cody Gakpo. Will the Reds pull off another surprise in place of the new midfielder or center back that fans are expecting Jürgen Klopp signs before the transfer market ends on Friday?
If Football Insider is to be believed, it might. According to the source, Liverpool is one of several Premier League teams attempting to recruit PSV Eindhoven’s Johan Bakayoko. The Reds already have a relationship with them that they may take advantage of as they dealt with them while signing Gakpo.
As we shall see, there is no doubt about the 20-year-old’s skill, but it is debatable whether he is what the team currently needs. As a right winger, Bakayoko fills the spot currently held by Mohamed Salah, who already has a youthful replacement in the form of Ben Doak.
Considering that Al-Ittihad wants to make Salah the newest international celebrity to play in the Saudi Arabian league, it’s possible that Liverpool is keeping an eye on a promising target as a safety measure in case it loses its number 11. No one can be untouchable when the sums of money offered are as astounding as they are, even if he has never been so crucial to the Reds.
But contrasting Bakayoko with Salah is intriguing. The former appears to be more of a touchline-hugging winger, a position that the Liverpool player appeared to be filling with limited success at the beginning of last season. Trent Alexander-Arnold must give attacking breadth from the inside as part of his inverted full-back role.
Then who is the PSV starlet like if not Salah exactly? Bakayoko’s statistical profile, according to EuroEliteScout, is identical to Neymar’s from 2015–16, the season he played alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez in what is arguably the only front three that could surpass Liverpool’s illustrious trio.
