According to reports from South America, Liverpool are in a three-way battle to sign a tigerish Argentine midfielder.
ESPN journalist Leo Paradizo has claimed (via Deportes 24) that the Reds – along with Manchester City and Bayern Munich – have enquired about Alan Varela of FC Porto.
A delegation from Merseyside is believed to have scouted the 22-year-old during a Primeira Liga match in early April, and he’s reportedly been on LFC’s radar ever since his time at Boca Juniors, who he left for Portugal nine months ago.
🚨🇦🇷Informa @leoparadizo que MANCHESTER CITY, LIVERPOOL y BAYERN MUNICH CONSULTARON POR ALAN #VARELA. 😱
ℹ️ @leoparadizo pic.twitter.com/Ths9gO9lxT
— Deportes 24 – Argentina (@deportes24ar) May 27, 2024
Despite Liverpool overhauling their midfield with four signings in that part of the squad last summer, it appears that Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes still want to strengthen in that department.
Almost a decade younger than Wataru Endo, Varela would represent a long-term option in the number 6 role at Anfield, and he’s been hailed as an ‘extremely aggressive’ engine room presence by Ruben Neves, formerly of Porto and Wolves.
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The 22-year-old is an excellent distributor of the ball, ranking among the top 6% of positonal peers in Europe over the past year for pass completion with 88.8% (FBref), although he ranks much less favourably for a series of other key performance metrics.
Whether Porto would be willing to part with the Argentine enforcer after only one season is a significant factor, and it seems almost certain that Liverpool would be asked to stump up a sizeable transfer fee for him.
Let’s see what comes of this transfer approach over the coming weeks and months.