Liverpool have seemingly wasted no time in their efforts to try and sign one of the breakout stars of Euro 2024.
According to Turkish outlet Milliyet, Anfield chiefs ‘immediately started working’ on a proposal for Baris Alper Yilmaz straight after Turkiye’s narrow quarter-final exit to Netherlands on Saturday night, following a standout performance by the Galatasaray forward.
The Istanbul outfit had set an asking price of €30m (£25.3m) for the player, although they could seek to hold out for a larger amount off the back of his excellent tournament in Germany.
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If Liverpool are to secure the signing of Yilmaz this summer, one man who’d certainly approve of the transfer is Virgil van Dijk, who came up against the Turkish attacker in the aforementioned Euro 2024 quarter-final.
Speaking after the match, the Liverpool captain described how the 24-year-old was ‘running constantly’ and making life ‘very hard’ for the Dutch defence with his ‘elusive’ running (Milliyet).
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The praise from our number 4 is backed up by the Galatasaray forward’s statistics from the tournament, having completed more dribbles (1.6) and won more free kicks per game (2.2) than anyone else in Vincenzo Montella’s squad (WhoScored).
Yilmaz played mainly at centre-forward at Euro 2024 but is also comfortable on either flank, a versatility which’ll surely endear him to Arne Slot and Richard Hughes at Anfield.
The Turkiye international’s value is sure to ascend considerably after the past month, so Liverpool are quite right to try and get in early before a flurry of suitors start banging on the door for him.
Could he be the Reds’ long-term successor to Mo Salah on the right flank? That seems a long way off just yet, but we surely haven’t heard the last of this particular transfer link for the summer.
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