Life without Philippe Coutinho begins for Liverpool, as talks at the club will start over who could potentially fill the Brazilian’s boots.
According to The Liverpool Echo, Monaco star Thomas Lemar remains the top option, with interest from the Reds said to date back to last summer. Naturally, with Coutinho now busy securing his move to Barcelona, the search for another attacking option will likely intensify at Anfield.
SEE MORE: Klopp opens up on Coutinho exit, important message for LFC fans
However, with The Independent reporting that the Frenchman could cost as much as £100m, it’s debatable as to whether that’s the most sensible move that we could make either this month or in the summer to add a top replacement.
Although we’re on a great run currently having gone 17 games unbeaten in all competitions, the loss of Coutinho could be a threat to disrupt that momentum.
In turn, having lost one of our best players, in an ideal world we would move quickly this month to bring in a replacement but Jurgen Klopp will undoubtedly prioritise signing the right player.
In contrast though, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has had his say on it, as it seems as though he continues to have the inside track at Liverpool even when Barca aren’t involved in the transfer talk.
Speaking about the 22-year-old on his YouTube channel, the Sky Sports pundit not only ruled out interest from the Reds in Lemar, but he also claims that we’re not looking for an immediate signing to come in.
Given he was adamant that no deal would be struck for Coutinho in January not so long ago, make of that what you will, but from a Reds perspective, Lemar would certainly be an exciting signing for us but that’s a lot of money for a player who has performed at a high level for just one season.