James Maddison can be the new Philippe Coutinho for the Reds according to ex-Leeds United and Coventry City player Noel Whelan.
Football pundit Whelan says that Jurgen Klopp has money to spend having not brought anyone in during the summer, and that a January move could well be on the cards.
He told Football Insider: “James Maddison is absolutely a Liverpool type of player. I can see him joining [Liverpool]. He can be the new Coutinho. He’s similar to him in many ways – great feet, can run with the ball, can see a pass that no-one else can and scores wonder goals.
“He’s still young but already he’s a real gem and his value is going to get higher and higher over the next few years. All the big teams will be watching him, but they will know he won’t come cheap.
“Can Liverpool sign him in January? Of course. They got [Virgil] van Dijk in a January window and haven’t looked back.”
Given that it took around £80 million for Manchester United to prise Harry Maguire away from Brendan Rodgers’ side, how much would it cost to sign Maddison? A higher amount, you would imagine.
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Whether the Reds would consider that to be good value seems very unlikely, and while he is a good player, the Reds are well-stocked in midfield for now.
A move next summer could be a possibility if Adam Lallana or James Milner move on, but in January would be a surprise, and it would only happen at all if the price was right.
There’s no doubt Maddison’s a top player – but could there be even better options for the Reds to target for that sort of money?