6 months ago
116 
Photo by Photo Prestige/Soccrates/Getty Images
The Reds are said to be keen on bringing in a wide attacker this summer.
PSV Eindhoven winger Johan Bakayoko has been linked with Liverpool FC since last year’s summer transfer window. The youngster decided to stay at Eindhoven and has been rewarded with Eredivise title. And now, it seems like this reheated dish is regaining some credibility in this transfer window.
Rik Elfrink, a very reliable journalist for PSV Eindhoven, whom you may remember from Cody Gakpo’s signing, dropped some nuggets about the 21-year-old Belgian winger in a series of tweets.
PSV-aanvaller Johan Bakayoko staat op heel veel lijstjes van scouts van Europese topclubs. #Liverpool is daar zeker bij inderdaad, stelden bronnen rondom hem eerder al. Deze week informeren we verder of er al schot in de zaken zit of dat het vooralsnog allemaal voetjevrijen is.
— Rik Elfrink (@RikElfrink) May 20, 2024Here’s a summary of the tweets:
Bakayoko is wanted by Europe’s top clubs, with Liverpool being one of them Liverpool scouted him recently in April, as PSV beat AZ Alkmaar 5-1 Even though Bakayoko has two years left on his contract, PSV aren’t expected to make a big profit on him, with Elfrink suggesting a similar fee to that of Cody Gakpo’s (£37million)Reporting from Liverpool-connected journalists as we were nearing the end of the season suggested that the club was keen to tweak the attacking corps, with a wide attacker expected to be added.
Bakayoko fits the bill in a few ways. Liverpool FC does love bargains in the form of various mitigating factors, so there’s that. There’s also a surplus in left-wingers, with Diaz, Gakpo, Jota and even Nunez, all capable of playing at that spot. Meanwhile, the options behind Salah at right-winger are either playing Jota or Diaz there or turning to Harvey Elliott and Dominik Szoboszlai. If brought in, the left-footed Bakayoko would immediately inject some speed and youth into the frontline and be someone who could learn under Mo and help lessen the number of minutes Salah has to play over the course of our often-long seasons.
There are also bubbling rumours of an FC Barcelona overture for Luis Diaz. The Colombian attacker seems to be our best asset and the most likely to move this summer. If he does indeed move on, Bakayoko would be capable of replacing Diaz’s dribbling, albeit from the other flank.
Elfrink mentions that things are expected to move this week, so we’ll see if this rumour develops further.
