Liverpool reportedly sent scouts to watch one Champions League game this week with the brief to assess two players in particular.
According to CaughtOffside, the Reds dispatched some of their staff to attend the clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Girona on Wednesday night, with the Ligue 1 giants edging a 1-0 home win thanks to a fortuitous late goal.
Along with Arsenal and Aston Villa, LFC are believed to have been tracking Viktor Tsygankov and Miguel Gutierrez, who were representing the away side in their first-ever fixture in European competition.
Although Ukraine winger Tsygankov was relatively subdued at the Parc des Princes, left-back Gutierrez impressed for Girona.
According to Sofascore, the 23-year-old won four of his five duels (80%), made three tackles and three clearances, completed 78% of his passes, executed one key pass and found a teammate with three of his five attempted long balls.
Follow Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE
A graduate of Real Madrid’s academy, the Spaniard has proven to be a more than useful attacking outlet for Michel’s side, with four goals and 14 assists from left-back in 82 matches for his current club (Transfermarkt).
With Andy Robertson now 30, Liverpool’s recruitment staff may be starting to plan for life after the long-serving Scotland captain, and the scouts who were dispatched to Paris will surely have liked what they saw from Gutierrez.
We wouldn’t be surprised if they were sent to watch the Girona defender a few more times over the coming months to see if he’d be the ideal candidate to hold down the left-back berth at Anfield in years to come.
EOTK Close-up with John Welsh: ‘a local lad who lived his dream’ and Slot’s LFC predictions