Liverpool are understood to be serious admirers of Eintracht Frankfurt centre-back Willian Pacho.
Ben Jacobs now reports that the footballer ticks two major boxes in being a ‘player for the now and for the future’.
“At the moment, they’ve scouted Goncalo Inacio. We wait and see whether they move as it’s a big outlay. Willian Pacho is the other name that Liverpool really like and he fits that young profile that could be a player for the now and for the future,” the CaughtOffside columnist told GiveMeSport.
The Merseysiders will potentially need to fork out in the region of £42.1-50.6m, however, according to Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg.
🔴 Eintracht Frankfurt, still keen about the interest from @LFC in Willian #Pacho!
But been told there’s no contact between the clubs at this stage. #LFC
Price tag for the 22 y/o center-back has been set: €50-60m in transfer fees for a transfer in summer. Contract valid… pic.twitter.com/4dEO3912iX
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) May 8, 2024
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Pacho helped Dino Toppmoller’s outfit to a sixth-place finish in the Bundesliga in 2023/24.
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Should Liverpool sign Willian Pacho this summer?
If we can’t get aerial dominance from a defensive target, the one minimum target that must be met is comfort on the ball.
Whilst the 22-year-old appears to register impressive defensive metrics, we have some concern over his low pass completion rate (39th percentile according to FBref) of 84.4% per 90.
For reference, Virgil van Dijk (91.3%) and Ibrahima Konate (88.1%) do have notably superior pass completion rates.
Though, for what it’s worth, we’d be far from surprised to see this figure impacted by the comparatively poorer quality of players available to Frankfurt and the comparative pressure they’ll face.
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