Do you any of these take your fancy, Reds?
The Echo’s Dave Powell has listed five players in Germany’s top flight that Liverpool should and could consider signing this summer – after Emre Can’s successful arrival from Bayer Leverkusen last time around…
Below, we’ve listed the players, and added our own analysis.
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Six Ex-Liverpool players have won the Champions League since 2009…
Bas Dost – Wolfsburg
Part of the Wolfsburg side that got closest to Bayern Munich this term just gone, Dost plundered 16 goals in just 17 starts – notching two more in the Europa League. The stats look awesome, and reflect the goalscoring run he went on in February, where he notched nine times in four games!
Dost is a traditional target man. 6 ft. 5″ and with strong holdup skills, the Dutchman is lethal in the air, and has the technical capability to bring midfielders into play.
For us though, he doesn’t possess the pace or movement which suits our style. Coutinho, Adam Lallana and Raheem Sterling need dynamic forwards who will drift to the flanks and run in behind, but Dost is too stationary.
Roberto Firmino – Hoffenheim
Like most clubs in Europe, we’d snap Hoffenheim’s hands off if Firmino was openly available, even though his position shouldn’t necessarily be a priority for us this summer.
He plays in attacking midfield behind the striker, and just like Echo recognise, this position belongs to Firmino’s Brazilian international team-mate Coutinho.
Firmino’s quality though is undeniable, and at 23-years-old he’s young enough to continue improving. He’s a more natural goalscorer than Coutinho, who could be deployed slightly deeper if Firmino were to arrive… The Hoffenheim man has notched 32 goals in the past two seasons, and would bolster our stale attack tenfold.
Man City are linked with a £20m move in the same report, but our offer of guaranteed first-team football might help.
Abdul Rahman Baba – FC Augsburg
Rahman Baba is a ridiculously pacy left-back, who at 20-years-old, has the world at his feet.
Jon Flanagan is out for the foreseeable and Jose Enrique spends more time on holiday than he does on the pitch, meaning Alberto Moreno is the only real option for the position currently.
The young Spaniard did quite well during his debut campaign, but there are doubts about his defensive contribution. Similarly though, Ghanaian Rahman Baba is happier going forward, and we probably need experienced heads in the defence right now instead of talented youngsters.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Borussia Dortmund
Another player we’d love to see arrive is the unspellable Gabon international!
At 25-years-old, he’s entering his prime, and has all the attributes to fit straight into our starting XI in any number of attacking roles. His pace is a primary asset, but he can finish too – notching 16 in the Bundesliga for struggling Dortmund.
Aubameyang can play centrally or on either flank, and loves to hang on the shoulder of the last defender. Once he’s in behind, he simply won’t be caught – and this movement would maximise the effectiveness of Coutinho in the no.10 role.
Joel Matip – Schalke
The Echo reports that the Cameroonian centre-back Matip, who’s only 23, would be available for a bargain £10m due to his contract expiring in 2016.
Although our defence was criticised regularly at times in 2014/15, it’s our lack of potency up top that saw the campaign fizzle into nothingness. Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren (who will improve) are three decent options for a back-four – while Tiago Ilori is returning from a loan spell, and Sebastien Coates even did well towards the end of Sunderland’s campaign.
Not a priority, for us.
