20 year old Syrian midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud is the latest name to be linked with Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool. He is likely to be bought in the event of a failure to bring Polish star Piotr Zielinski from Serie A side Empoli.
Liverpool are still reeling from a miraculous second half turn around from Sevilla to rob them not only their maiden Europa League trophy, but also a wild card entry into next year’s Champions League. Chris Bascombe reports that Dahoud, who has represented Germany at the under 21 level, is a possible alternative in case Liverpool fail to reach an agreement with Empoli for Zielinski. (via The Telegraph)
The Price
Dahoud, however, would come at a huge price for Liverpool, having been involved in most of Monchengladbach’s games this season, both in the domestic competitions as well as in the Champions League. Having registered 8 assists and 5 goals this season, Dahoud is a hot prospect in Germany at the moment.
Recently, Dahoud had also been linked with a move to London to play for Tottenham. Whereas Zielinski would cost them around 15 million euros, Dahoud will at least be valued at 35 million euros. His teammate Granit Xhaka is reportedly involved in a switch to Arsenal for a whopping sum of 40 million euros.
What Liverpool needs
Dahoud owes Andre Schubert a great deal for introducing him to first team action faster than his predecessor did. He showed an enormous amount of confidence against Juventus and Manchester City in the Champions League this year. In short, the 20 year old has just the kind of technical ability that Klopp likes to have in his midfield.
The 22 year old Zielinski, who also has a penchant for flair and is Dahoud’s equal if not better in every department, has also had a breakout season under coach Giampaolo this season who tendered his resignation a few days ago. Zielinski has been highly rated in Italy ever since his time with Udinese but had failed to break out prior to this season.
