Liverpool have reportedly stepped up their pursuit of a prodigious young talent who’s being sought by several Premier League clubs.
Reds fans are eagerly anticipating official confirmation of Florian Wirtz’s record-breaking transfer from Bayer Leverkusen, with the German set to have a medical on Friday (David Ornstein), while Milos Kerkez’s move from Bournemouth is ‘basically a done deal‘, according to his father.
While The Athletic‘s Gregg Evans has claimed that ‘the bulk of’ the Reds’ incoming business this summer will be completed once those two signings are finalised, Richard Hughes appears to be casting an eye towards further prospective additions from mainland Europe.
Liverpool open talks with Malick Fofana’s new agents
According to L’Equipe, Liverpool have held talks with the representatives of Malick Fofana shortly after the Lyon winger changed over to Brazilian agency Roc Nation, who also count the likes of Vinicius Junior, Gabriel Martinelli, Endrick and Kevin De Bruyne among their clients.
Chelsea have also had initial discussions over a possible swoop for the 20-year-old, who has additional interest from Manchester United and Nottingham Forest and is valued at €50m (£42.7m) by the Ligue 1 club, who are currently in financial difficulty.
Is Fofana a player that Liverpool currently need?
Liverpool’s initial interest in Fofana was reported by CaughtOffside last month, and the youngster appears to be firmly in FSG’s sights as they seek to fend off multiple Premier League suitors for him.
Primarily playing on the left flank, he scored 11 times and supplied six assists in 41 games for Lyon last season (Transfermarkt), and a detailed analysis from Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout has identified him as being particularly effective in beating opponents in one-v-one situations.
His dribbling ability is further underlined by a match average of 6.72 progressive carries over the past 12 months, placing him among the top 2% of positional peers in Europe’s five main leagues for that metric (FBref).
At present there wouldn’t appear to be any pressing need for Liverpool to sign Fofana, given that Arne Slot already has Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz to choose from on the left flank. However, amid ongoing speculation over the Colombian’s future, his potential exit could alter the situation drastically.
It seems quite plausible that the 20-year-old could leave Lyon this summer, especially after signing up to a new agency, but whether or not it’d be for Anfield is a question to which the answer may become clearer over the next couple of weeks…
