Who would you take this summer, Reds?
In all honesty – it’s not something we’re especially concerned with right now. Liverpool’s current squad is competing for the Premier League and the Champions League – which is far, far more important and interesting than transfer speculation.
That being said, we’ve got a two week international break to endure, so it’s perhaps a good time to fill the boredom with some discussion about incomings!
That’s what the Echo reckon, anyway – with writer Josh Williams naming a four-position shortlist, which includes six players.
We think some of his suggestions are brilliant, while some are a little uninspiring, actually:
Centre-back: Matthijs de Ligt – Ajax
EOTK verdict: We’d take him in a heartbeat, but so would every club on the planet. He’s already world-class and potentially one of the best defenders of his generation. Barcelona probably need him more, though, and we’d be surprised if we took the hit when we’re already well stocked in defence.
Left-back: Angelino – PSV
EOTK verdict: Nice idea, this! Angelino is 22 and has nine assists this term. The question, of course, is would he be happy with a spot on the bench behind Robbo? In fairness, it would be good to at least have the opportunity to rest the Scot.
Centre-mid: Julian Brandt – Bayer Leverkusen
EOTK verdict: That’s not a typo – Brandt plays in midfield now – on the left of a central three. This means he could offer the dribbling, running, offensive, creative option to our midfield that’s been absent since Coutinho left. The fact he can backup the front-three is probably very handy as well. Plus, there’s a release-clause which we can activate. No brainer!
Centre-mid – Kerem Demirbay – Hoffenheim
Decent player, but where does he get in our side?! Fabinho anchors the team – and when he doesn’t – we have the skipper Jordan Henderson to do the job. Demirbay has no pace or transitionary running, so can’t play either side of the no.6. Not for us.
Striker – Timo Werner – Rb Leipzig
Always linked, but can we do better? Werner is talented, but would very much be our fourth choice behind Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino. And considering the potential cost (surely £60m+), it seems a bit steep.
Striker – Luka Jovic – Frankfurt (on loan from Benfica)
Benfica sell their best players. It’s their business model. Jovic has 22 goals this season and scores them in a variety of ways. Unlike Werner, he’s an out and out no.9 – the kind of player we don’t really have right now. For us, we’d take the Serbian above the German right now.
EOTK’S NO.1 OPTION:
Nicolas Pepe – Lille
This guy should be our primary target for the attack. He can play on either flank, at no.10 or up top – and he’s stylistically perfect for us. Pepe is rapid, scores goals, counters superbly and has bags of trickery. Plus, playing for Lille, he’ll be acquirable.