Liverpool could be set to enter a bidding war with a Premier League rival for one midfield transfer target over the summer, according to reports.
The Daily Mail claimed that the Reds have a move for Youssouf Fofana in their sights, with the AS Monaco gem having been touted as a potential signing by Jonathan Johnson for CaughtOffside in March.
However, the report added that Chelsea have also started tracking the 24-year-old, with the headline suggesting that a possible bidding war could ensue between the Blues and the Merseyside club.
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That the Frenchman is playing professionally at all seemed hard to envisage just a few years ago – as a teenager, he left the famed Clairefontaine football academy and put football aside to focus instead on delivering pizzas to earn a living while also pursuing further study (The Mirror).
However, since returning to the game at youth level with Strasbourg in 2017, his career trajectory has been consistently upward, breaking into the Ligue 1 club’s first team and subsequently earning a transfer to Monaco.
As per Daily Mail, the 6 foot 1 midfielder is renowned as an astute reader of the play and can adapt to multiple midfield roles, impressing with both his tackling and passing range while also boasting intelligence and physical strength.
Indeed, with 7.32 progressive passes per game, he ranks among the top 11% of positional peers in Europe’s five main leagues for that metric (FBref), so he has form when it comes to getting the ball into dangerous positions.
In terms of potential incomings at Liverpool, there’s currently a big focus on Alexis Mac Allister, but Fofana could also be a name worth keeping an eye on as the summer transfer window draws nearer.