Liverpool may have been handed a glorious opportunity to sign a long-standing transfer target by the player himself.
O Jogo reported of Newcastle’s attempts to sign Sporting Lisbon defender Ousmane Diomande by flying to the Portuguese capital, and the article made reference to a similar approach for his centre-back partner Goncalo Inacio this time last year.
However, the Portugal international turned down a possible move to St James’ Park as he preferred to hold out for a club who’d challenge for major silverware, having been made aware of ‘growing interest’ from the Reds, among other prospective suitors.
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With Liverpool also being linked with Diomande recently, Reds chiefs must be wary of not allowing Newcastle a clear advantage in the chase for the Ivory Coast defender.
However, with Inacio snubbing the Magpies in apparent favour of a move to somewhere like Anfield, that could provide an open invitation to swoop for the 22-year-old.
The Portuguese centre-back can boast a glowing endorsement from journalist Steve Kay, who described him as an ‘elite’ operator with an ‘excellent passing range’ when speaking to the EOTK Insider show in September.
He has a release clause of £52m in his contract (TEAMtalk), which isn’t outrageously prohibitive for a player of his age who’s one of the best defenders in Europe in possession.
As per FBref, Inacio ranks among the top 6% of positional peers on the continent in terms of his match averages for passes attempted (88.82), progressive passes (8.71), progressive carries (1.84) and successful take-ons (0.62).
Those are qualities that Jurgen Klopp would surely love to add to the already impressive selection of centre-backs at his disposal, and the player himself seems to have issued a ‘come-and-get-me’ plea of sorts to Liverpool.
There’s certainly an opportunity there for the Reds to land one of Europe’s most coveted defenders – can they duly seize it?