Duncan Castles has reiterated Liverpool’s reported interest in Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Yves Bissouma.
The reporter noted that the 25-year-old would be a cheaper alternative to pursue ahead of West Ham United’s Declan Rice, who has been linked with numerous top six sides in the Premier League.
“Yves Bissouma is one of the candidates they’ve been looking at for over a year now,” the journalist told the Transfer Window Podcast (via the Express).
“Statistically he comes out extremely well and statistical recruitment is very important to a lot of Premier League clubs, it’s important to Manchester United and to Liverpool.
“You also have Declan Rice, but it’s going to be a multiple of the transfer fee Bissouma would command.”
The reporter provided a warning to potential interested parties, however, in terms of the Malian’s off-pitch behaviour, which could present a barrier to a move.
“There’ve been issues I’ve been told about regarding lateness to training and team meetings, but now Bissouma wants to get that side of being a footballer correct,” Castles added. “He’s got the on-field stuff correct, but he wants to add that side to it because I think someone has had a word with him telling him that the top clubs do their homework on how you behave and how you’re going to fit into the camp.”
As fans will be quick to remember – specifically with regard to former Liverpool star Mamadou Sakho – Jurgen Klopp is not one to tolerate poor behaviour for long.
Character assessments are a big part of our recruitment process and rightly so, as we’ve built a tight-knit squad capable of meeting the German’s instructions without fuss.
As such, it’s important that Bissouma has already reportedly made efforts to adjust aspects of his off-pitch behaviour that wouldn’t sit well with leading managers in the English top-flight.