Liverpool reportedly lead the transfer race for a player who’s been touted in some quarters to be a breakout star at Euro 2024.
According to Fichajes, the Reds are the ‘main candidates’ to sign Juventus attacker Kenan Yildiz as a possible replacement for the exit-linked Mo Salah and Luis Diaz.
The report states that Anfield chiefs have been impressed by the 19-year-old’s positional versatility, along with his aggressive style of play and his dribbling abilities.
The Turin outfit value the teenager at €30m (£25.3m), a more than reasonable figure in today’s market for a player who’s already a regular at one of Italy’s most successful clubs and has enormous potential for further growth.
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Yildiz’s performance figures from the 2023/24 season back up the traits which are reported to have caught the eye of the Liverpool hierarchy.
As per FBref, he averaged 2.17 successful take-ons and 1.23 tackles per game over the past year, with those returns placing him among the top 4% and top 9% for those respective metrics among forwards in Europe’s five main leagues.
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He also ranks in the 96th percentile among that subcategory for pass completion (81.4%), while he played in four different positions throughout the campaign (mainly as a second striker), scoring six goals and setting up another two (Transfermarkt).
Crysencio Summerville appears to be Liverpool’s main target in terms of an attacking addition this summer, but if the pursuit of the Leeds winger were to fizzle out, then Yildiz could be a very worthy alternative.
Reds fans will have a chance to see the 19-year-old in action later today as Turkiye begin their Euro 2024 campaign against tournament debutants Georgia, and the Juventus teenager could well be pivotal to his nation’s hope of advacing from the group stage for the first time in 16 years.
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