‘Possible that I will leave’ – Liverpool-linked winger hints that he’s ‘ready’ for new challenge
One Liverpool-linked winger has hinted that he’s open to a new challenge this summer, so long as it’s for a club who he believes can contend for major trophies.
Johan Bakayoko is reportedly on the Reds’ radar (Liverpool Echo) and could be available for around £43m (HLN Nieuws), and the PSV Eindhoven forward has been speaking publicly about his immediate future.
The 21-year-old told Eindhovens Dagblad: “If I were to leave, it would only be to a club that plays for trophies, just like PSV. Becoming champion is what I want, and to win the Champions League. I have the qualities for that. I am ready for the top, but PSV is also a top club, especially if many players from last season stay.”
The Belgian added: “It is also possible that I will leave next year, but I still have to discuss it carefully with my agent. It will partly depend on PSV, where I will play next season.”
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It certainly sounds as if Bakayoko would be prepared to leave PSV for what he feels is the right club, and the antennae of Liverpool’s recruitment team are sure to have perked up after hearing his comments.
As we’ve argued elsewhere on EOTK, a forward addition looks like the kind of business that Richard Hughes could possibly get done quickly as he seeks to be ‘opportunistic’ in the market, and there could be scope to add the 21-year-old to Arne Slot’s squad.
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While the Reds are blessed with left wingers and have numerous attackers who can play through the middle, Mo Salah is the only out-and-out senior right winger at Anfield, and his future has been the subject of much discourse now that he’s into the final year of his current contract.
Having scored 14 goals and set up another 14 last season (Transfermarkt), Bakayoko can definitely carry a threat in the final third, and he also excels for a series of underlying performance metrics in comparison to positional peers across Europe’s top leagues (FBref).
If Liverpool are to enhance their attacking options in the final six weeks of the summer transfer window, the Belgian seems to be a more than viable contender to come in at Anfield, especially if he thinks the Reds could satisfy his craving for major trophies.
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