Just the other day, Douglas Costa said he was unhappy at Bayern Munich and that he’d consider a summer switch to England.
We wrote a piece on how the Brazilian would be the perfect addition for Liverpool – a winger with pace, trickery and end product.
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Our suggestion was that Liverpool should take advantage when top players have fallen out of favour at the world’s biggest clubs – like Arsenal did with Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.
In fairness, we tried to Mario Gotze last summer, but the German chose Borussia Dortmund instead.
But here’s five players currently out of favour at the world’s best clubs we could realistically target come the end of this campaign:
Douglas Costa – Bayern Munich
Easily our favourite on this list. Costa is behind Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller in Carlo Ancelotti’s pecking order but proved last term under Guardiola that he’s potentially world-class. He’s rapid, plays on either flank and makes things happen. He’s discontent and favours a move to England. We’d be mad to at least not explore the opportunity.
Kingsley Coman – Bayern Munich (On loan from Juventus)
Another fabulous Bayern winger who isn’t getting the time his talent deserves. Coman has just four Bundesliga starts this term, which doesn’t befit a player of his potential – especially after bursting onto the scene last season. He’s actually only on loan from Juventus, but if the Italians don’t see a need for him (they don’t play with wingers), we could make an enquiry.
James Rodriguez – Real Madrid
A few years back, Rodriguez was regarded in the world’s top 10 players, wowing at the World Cup and earning a blockbuster move to Real Madrid – where he started brilliantly. Now though, he’s down Zidane’s pecking order and won’t be happy with his paltry four starts in La Liga this term. Is he available? Yes. Would be very expensive? Yes. Is he Klopp’s cup of tea..? Maybe not.
Barcelona – Andre Gomes
Andre Gomes was a very expensive summer recruit for Barca, but he’s not lived up to expectations and has only been given nine La Liga starts. Juventus want to end his Nou Camp tenure early after reports emerged he’d lost the faith of his Barca team-mates, so it looks like the Portuguese will be available. At his best he’s a technically able, controlling midfielder – perfect either side of Jordan Henderson in Klopp’s preferred 4-3-3.
Grzegorz Krychowiak – PSG
The squad lacks a natural defensive midfielder of sufficient standard, and PSG’s Pole would do the job nicely. He can’t get in Unai Emery’s team, but proved at Sevilla (against us in last season’s Europa League Final for example), that he’s a leader and a terrific shield for the defence. He’s barely featured for PSG and at 27 would surely be open to a Premier League switch.