Silly season is well and truly upon us, although this report from Portuguese outlet A Bola today seems a little too farcical even for the summer transfer window…
They claim that Liverpool are closing in on a gargantuan deal for Porto’s Algerian flyer Yacine Brahimi. The article suggests Porto are already bringing in Henrique Dourado (whose name brilliantly translated as Henry Gold), as a replacement.
A Bola reckon we’re happy to pay Brahimi’s £45m release clause too, half of which will go to Porto and half to a company who own a portion of his economic rights.
Brahimi is a rapid winger, most comfortable on the right, so it wouldn’t surprise us if we really were interested. We lack the 26-year-old’s dynamic traits in our wide areas, and he’d inject speed into our counter attacks.
The figure mooted though is ridiculous. There’s no way Liverpool will agree to spend £45m, £10m more than our record transfer, on a player of Brahimi’s calibre. The African has Champions League experience, but he’s hardly considered elite – which that kind of money should be saved for.
With Jordon Ibe potentially on his way though (via the Echo), Liverpool do need genuine wingers ahead of 2016/17. Lazar Markovic is returning from loan, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be a success under Jurgen Klopp having endured a difficult season in Turkey.
As well as Brahimi, Andriy Yarmolenko has been linked (via Express), another example of a pacy wide-man, so it’ll be interesting to see who Klopp eventually goes for. If Brahimi really does cost £45m though, it won’t be him.