It’s not to feel genuinely bad for Southampton at this point!
We’ve pillaged them of all their half-decent talent since 2014, bringing Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Sadio Mane, Nathaniel Clyne and Virgil van Dijk to Anfield from St. Mary’s in that time.
And according to L’Equipe, Mario Lemina is next on the agenda!
The French outlet claims that Arsenal have dropped interest in the Gabonese international and that Jurgen Klopp ‘loves’ Southampton’s anchorman, who was easily their best player in our recent 2-0 victory on the south coast.
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L’Equipe say that Klopp believes Lemina would complement Naby Keita, who’s arriving from Rb Leipzig in June.
Lemina has enjoyed a decent debut Premier League season since signing from Juventus, but we wouldn’t say he’s an upgrade on Jordan Henderson at the base of midfield – although he’s less injury prone.
The 24-year-old is combative and technically quite good, but he doesn’t spray passes in the manner we’d like our no.6 too – especially with the options of Mo Salah and Sadio Mane running in behind.
Personally, we’d prefer Liverpool targeted Napoli’s Jorginho, who has all the attributes we require.
If Southampton get relegated though, Lemina might provide a decent squad option.