Target 9: Reunion of the Century?
Target: Luis Suarez
Position: Striker
Club: Barcelona
Likely Fee: $110M – $140M
Why we need him:
Suarez is a Liverpool hero. During his time at Anfield, Suarez made Liverpool a team to reckon with. Liverpool now are a completely different side now, but would still appreciate a player who some might argue as the best no. 9 in the world. Luis Suarez helped carry Liverpool to a second place finish in 2013, the closest Liverpool has been to a Premier League title in decades. During that season, Suarez went on a tear scoring over 30 goals in the league. In this dream scenario, Suarez would most likely push Klopp’s favorite player, Bobby Firmino either onto the bench or into a deeper role. Regardless adding Suarez would make Liverpool an immediate title contender, if they aren’t already. This move is very unlikely to happen, and would take a huge fee to make happen, but reuniting Suarez with Liverpool and Anfield would be one of the best reunions world football has ever seen.
Likelihood we sign him: 0.5/10
Target 8: Young Depth at the Front
Target: Timo Werner
Position: Striker
Club: RB Leipzig
Likely Fee: $75M – $100M
Why we need him:
Everyone knows Liverpool has one of the most electrifying attack in all of Europe, with Sadio Mane, Bobby Firmino and Mo Salah. However, behind them there isn’t much depth. Which is where Werner comes into play. The 22 year old German has lit up the Bundesliga in the past two years scoring over 40 goals over the past two seasons. Werner also helped Leipzig climb to second in the table last year. Liverpool currently has four potential back-up strikers in Danny Ings, Dom Solanke, Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi with the last two currently out on loan. However, Ings has only managed five appearances since Klopp took charge of Liverpool almost four years ago, and Solanke is still very young and inexperienced, especially if we hope to challenge for a title next year. Sturridge has shown his world class quality in small glimpses since his breakout year in 2013, but injuries have caused his career to spiral. Origi, like Sturridge, has shown great potential, but only in bursts and not over a consistent period of time, like Werner has. Now Bobby Firmino is a world class striker, and can play 90% of games, but like everyone he needs a break every once in a while. With a striker like Werner to back-up Firmino, Liverpool would be able to rotate the front three and give players like Firmino the rest he would need over the course of a 50+ game season. And while he isn’t going to be cheap, in today’s market $100M would seem like a bargain.
Likelihood we sign him: 4/10
Target 7: The Croatian Protege Takes the Helm
Target: Mateo Kovacic
Position: Centre Midfield
Club: Real Madrid
Likely Fee: $50M – $80M
Why we need him?
Mateo Kovacic is one of the best young center mids in the world, and he isn’t even a regular starter. Kovacic is a rotation player for Real Madrid, and has shown extreme talent and promise in his limited opportunities. Liverpool have a hole in their squad for midfielders who can carry the ball, and the play forward while leaving defenders in the dust. Kovacic is arguably Madrid’s best dribbler, making some of Spain’s best defenders look silly, and his passing and football IQ is just as good. He has also shown an ability to stay back and mark opposing attackers as he did during El Clasico when he marked Leo Messi, as good as he could’ve. A midfielder who is capable of showing class going forward and defending is something any club needs, and Liverpool falls into that category. Plus, his price might be lower or at least not ridiculous because of his lack of matches he gets a Madrid.
Likelihood of him signing: 4/10
Target 6: The Frenchman to Replace Our Magician?
Target: Thomas Lemar
Position: Attacker
Club: AS Monaco
Likely Fee: $65M – $125M
Why we need him?
Thomas Lemar has been on Liverpool’s radar for it seems as long as the season has been going on. Phil Coutinho is a player that Liverpool will never directly replace, but Lemar is what seems like the closest option to do so. Lemar, just like Coutinho, has the ability to dribble at defenders and make them miss, and then finish with as much class as he got to that position with. Liverpool does have several exciting midfielders, however they do not have anyone that can do what Coutinho did, at least on a consistent basis. Lemar showed how good he can be during Monaco’s League 1 run last season when they won the title, and even made the Champions League quarter-finals. And at 22 Lemar has potential that hasn’t been fully found yet. And it seems the best man for the job is Jurgen Klopp, the same one who evolved Mo Salah into the firebreather he is now. And he has been linked with Liverpool for what seems like forever, it only seems like this summer is the time to get our new magician.
Likelihood we sign him: 6/10
Transfer Target 5: The Promising Spaniard Finds a Home in Liverpool’s Midfield?
Target: Dani Ceballos
Position: Center Midfield
Club: Real Madrid
Likely Fee: $40M-$75M
Why we need him?
Liverpool has quite a few center midfielders, Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, Emre Can, Gini Wijnaldum, I could go on and on. However, each one has their own flaws. Henderson has shown since he become Liverpool captain that he is unable to stay fit for an entire season. Lallana, now 30, has shown great form in the past but is now starting to show his age, being unable to stay fit for weeks in a row. Emre Can has a contract expiring in July that he hasn’t indicated he is willing to renew isn’t a reliable asset. Gini Wijnaldum is a solid midfielder and not much else, which is great if we want to challenge for the top 4 in England but not much else. As you can see, Liverpool has a lot of options in midfield at the moment, but whether or not they can be relied on to compete for titles. This is where Ceballos comes into play. The young Spaniard has shown great potential in past years, and even this year at Real Madrid. He possesses skills that cause people to liken him to Spanish legend Adreas Iniesta, but he hasn’t been given opportunities to show that potential fully with the likes of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric at Madrid. Liverpool however, has an easier starting eleven to break into, as shown by recent signings Andy Robertson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Ceballos brings a creativity to the midfield that Liverpool does not currently have. And at 21 he is only just now starting to show how truly special he could become. There have been rumors that he isn’t content in Madrid, and some even claim he has a move for Anfield in his heart but that is still to be determined. In today’s market we could land Ceballos for anywhere between $40M and $75M depending on if Madrid is ready to part with the midfielder.
Transfer Target 4:Liverpool to Splash Cash for American Teen?
Target: Christian Pulisic
Position: Outside Midfield
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Estimated Fee: $65M- $105M
Why We Need Him?
The world has never seen an American footballer with this much potential. Pulisic is already America’s top player, as voted U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year by a combination of fans, and national media repesentatives. He is also becoming a well-known name in Germany’s Bundesliga. Pulisic, only 19, has quality on all fronts with pace, passing, finishing, dribbling along with a commitment to work at both ends of the pitch. Everyone knows how prolific Liverpool’s front three of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, and Bobby Firmino, leading all of Europe in goals. However, the midfield has been average for the majority of this season, especially since the departure of Phil Coutinho. This is where Pulisic could bring a quality to the side, in which we don’t have. Overall, Liverpool should always be looking to improve the heart of the field, and with this move they would do exactly that, and at only 19 he has the potential to become world-class, something we haven’t had since Steven Gerrard retired in 2015. His price is only increasing so the time to make a move is now, especially as clubs like Chelsea and Man United are circling aswell.
Likelihood of him signing: 6/10
Target 3: World Cup Superstar to Anfield?
Target: James Rodriguez
Position: Attacking Midfield
Club: Real Madrid (On loan at Bayern)
Estimated Fee: $75M-$125M
Why We Need Him?
Everyone knows by now that Liverpool lost argueably their best player this past January in Phillippe Coutinho. And with Coutinho’s departure we are lacking a true creative spark out of our midfield, someone who can take over a game or put the squad on thier back. However, James could fill that gap we have. Now since the Brazilian left we have had fairly positive results, including a win over league leaders Manchester City, but we have also had games where our lack of creativity in the middle of the park has cost us valuable points in our hunt for the top 4. James has been a household name in football since he had his coming out party at the 2014 World Cup where he led Colombia to the quarterfinals and scored some magnificant goals while doing so. Players like James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum are solid midfielders and perform well usually but they aren’t very creative going forward when it comes to creating goals. That is where James could step in and compliment our outstanding front three, setting up and bagging goals. However, James since his loan move to Bayern has been reborn into the player he was expected to be so signing him would most likely come at a hefty price, similar to the one we received from Barcelona for Coutinho. Overall, it would take a lot to bring the Colombian to Anfield, but actually pulling it off would make Liverpool a true title contender.
Likelihood of him signing: 2/10
Transfer Target 2: A New Partner at the Back
Target: Stefan De Vrij
Position: Centre Back
Club: Lazio
Estimated Fee: $30M-$60M or free
Why We Need Him?
Similar to last weeks post, Liverpool’s defense has been below average for the last 5 years by our high standards, conceding the most since then among the top six in the Premier League. Defenders have been brought in to tighten up the back line and most have failed, with the likes of Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip, Ragnar Klavan, Momadou Sahko trying to make Liverpool’s defense strong again but all failing. With the recent arrival of the world’s most expensive defender Virgil van Dijk Liverpool seem to be keen to bolster their defense, but the Dutchman needs a partner to help him, as our current selection isn’t very promising if we hope to compete for Champions League and league titles. Stefan de Vrij, has been regarded as one of the top young centre backs in the world for the last few years and has grown from being an exciting prospect at Lazio, to being one of the best centre backs in Italy’s Series A, a league known for its defenders. Another reason de Vrij is the best target for Liverpool is because he is already familiar with partnering with van Dijk on the Dutch national team. With de Vrij’s contracting expiring in 5 months Liverpool have the chance to get a top tier partner for their big money defender for the low price of ZERO, whether or not they seize the moment is still up in the air.
Likelihood of him signing: 4.5/10
Target 1: A New Keeper for the Kop
Target: Jan Oblak
Position: GK
Club: Atletico Madrid
Estimated Fee: Between $60M and $110M
Why we need him?
Liverpool for the past 5 seasons have had one of the weakest defenses among England and Europe’s top clubs, which we claim to be, and some of the blame can go directly to the goalkeeper. Our primary keeper since 2012 has been Simon Mignolet, and don’t get me wrong he is by no means terrible. However, clubs around England that we are supposed to compete with like Spurs and Manchester United have some of the world’s best. After splashing the cash for Dutch center half Virgil Van Dijk we seem to be in a good direction, but after about a month with the Dutchman we still are susceptible to garbage goals, and some of that blame goes to the defenders but a lot also goes to the goalkeeper. Jan Oblak has won the Spanish League title, and been a UEFA Champions League finalist twice in the last five years. He has even been voted Keeper of the Year in Spain!! By signing Oblak, we would plug a major hole in our vulnerable back line. And reports of an $80M release clause is by no means too expensive in this new market!!
Likelihood of him signing: 6/10
Liverpool Transfer Prospects 