Liverpool may have a crucial edge over a rival Premier League suitor for an exciting attacker in the final month of the summer transfer window.
According to Football Insider, the Reds and Tottenham have both registered an interest in Eberechi Eze, with Crystal Palace very much worried that the 26-year-old could follow Michael Olise (and possibly Marc Guehi) out of Selhurst Park.
The Eagles playmaker is known to have a £60m release clause in his contract in south London (with further add-ons payable in the future), and significantly, that can only be triggered by clubs in the Champions League.
That could give Liverpool a notable advantage over Spurs, who have to be content with Europa League football this season and, unlike LFC, wouldn’t be able to snap him up for a set price.
Eze has put together back-to-back seasons of hitting double figures in the Premier League for Palace, which is an impressive feat for a player who typically plays behind the forward line and is with a club who finished 11th and 10th respectively in those campaigns.
Speaking after a starring display from the 26-year-old in the Eagles’ 5-2 thrashing of West Ham in April as he scored one goal and set up another, Danny Murphy told Match of the Day that the England international was ‘on a different planet’ in that game, also describing him as a ‘Champions League player’ who ‘can do the lot’.
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Although his passing metrics are subdued in comparison to positional peers in Europe’s five main leagues, his scoring returns are superb and he also excels in beating opponents one-on-one, ranking in the 91st percentile for successful take-ons with 3.02 per 90 minutes (FBref).
Combined with Liverpool’s presence in Europe’s premier club competition and realistic ambitions of winning major trophies, there definitely appears to be scope for Anfield chiefs to try and tempt Eze to Merseyside in the prime of his career.
He’d have stiff competition for a regular starting berth, of course, but he’d certainly make Arne Slot’s squad even stronger in the final third, if the Reds were to push hard for him this month.
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