Liverpool are in the market for a new midfielder ahead of the opening of the January transfer window.
Though fans will have to wait until after the World Cup and the resumption of the domestic campaign for a new face (or two), there are a handful of potential targets that can be identified already.
Joao Gomes and Konrad Laimer are two names the Reds should absolutely be considering, particularly given that the former have both expressed their interest in the club.
The former openly admitted Liverpool would be a side ‘I have the greatest desire to play’ for (in quotes carried by ESPN) with the latter telling BILD (via Tribal Football): “I’m generally a football fan. I generally like watching the Premier League. I’ve always been a Liverpool fan.”
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How much would Liverpool need to pay?
Gomes is reportedly valued ‘in the region of £32m’ (according to HITC) whilst the Reds were quoted at £35-40m for Laimer in the summer (TEAMtalk).
That being said, TEAMtalk report that Leipzig may be prepared to accept a cut-price fee in January in light of the Austrian’s contract expiring in 2023 – potentially as low as £25m (according to reports cited by the same publication).
Theoretically, that means we could snap up BOTH midfielders for as little as £57m – though that assumes Flamengo won’t up the asking price for their Brazilian holding midfielder in January.
If possible for around that figure, however, it’s a possibility we’d be daft not to consider given potentially as many as three midfielders will depart in the summer.
At 21 and 25 years of age respectively, Gomes and Laimer would secure the middle of the park for the long term and at a largely cut-price fee.
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