Jacque Talbot has been giving his assessment on a number of rumoured Liverpool transfer targets, among them the free agent Daichi Kamada.
Calciomercato reported in recent days that the 26-year-old remains of interest to the Reds despite seemingly giving his word to AC Milan that he’ll move to the Serie A club and is ready to sign on the dotted line with the Rossoneri.
The transfer journalist was speaking exclusively with Empire of the Kop when he revealed an insight from Bundesliga expert Ronan Murphy on the Japan international.
Talbot stated: “It was a strange story that came out of Italy. He’s about to sign for AC Milan and then an Italian outlet… Calciomercato can get some stuff right but they’re not the most reliable but they can get it right when it concerns Italian transfers.
“They’ve come in saying that Liverpool liked him. I think his agents probably told a couple of reporters that Liverpool were interested in order to secure a better wage. He’s a free agent and I imagine his wage would be relatively minute in comparison to Premier League footballers.
“I know he did quite well in the Bundesliga, my colleague Ronan Murphy (who specialises in Bundesliga football) has said he’s not good enough for Liverpool. Probably a bit of a non-starter that one but supposed to be relatively good in that league.”
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Firstly, Talbot’s point about Kamada’s wage is a pertinent one, with the 26-year-old having been on a relatively modest £33.4k per week at Eintracht Frankfurt, with only four senior Liverpool players earning less, and that quartet are all either youngsters or peripheral squad members (FBref).
The Reds should then be able to offer him a comparatively attractive salary without having to put their existing wage structure under duress.
The Japanese playmaker has also enjoyed an excellent season despite his team’s disappointing campaign, netting 16 goals and setting up seven across all competitions (Transfermarkt), so he should definitely be capable of adding a potent threat from behind the front three at Anfield.
However, with a Bundesliga specialist in Murphy of the opinion that Kamada wouldn’t be up to Liverpool’s standard, that could be a concern. In any case, newly-installed sporting director Jorg Schmadtke will be well aware of the player’s pros and cons from his ample experience of the German top flight.
In truth, it currently seems unlikely that the Japan international will end up on Merseyside by the end of August, although the Reds might keep him in mind as a possible candidate should any proposed move to Milan fall through.