With Mohamed Salah, the Crystal Palace midfielder would thrive.
Liverpool’s summer transfer window began with such promise, and despite the exciting signings of Alexis MacAllister and Dominik Szoboszlai, the noise of the alarm bells threatens to sound across Anfield with the start of the 23/24 Premier League season just one week away.
The departures of James Milner, Naby Keita, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Anfield were inevitable, with the three having completed their contracts and being deemed surplus to requirements, but the Saudi Arabian swoops for Fabinho and Jordan Henderson have left Liverpool lacking in the holding midfield position.
Although the Reds are unwilling to pay Southampton’s £50 million fee for Romeo Lavia, Jurgen Klopp must reconsider his interest in Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze following a recent update on the midfielder’s position.
What is the latest on Eberechi Eze’s transfer to Liverpool?
According to talkSPORT, Eze has demonstrated a reluctance to initiate contract negotiations at Selhurst Park, despite the fact that a slew of prominent European clubs are interested; he has two years left on his present deal.
Liverpool were said to be monitoring the situation for the dynamo in June, and Klopp may now be willing to reconsider a deal for the Eagles player, who is considered to be worth €30 million (£26 million).
How talented is Eberechi Eze?
The 25-year-old moved from Queens Park Rangers to Selhurst Park for £20 million in 2020, scoring 15 goals and providing 11 assists in 93 games across all competitions.
The quick-footed phenom has faced difficulties before, rupturing his Achilles minutes before being called up to England’s European Championship squad in May 2021, resulting in only 13 appearances throughout the 21/22 season.
However, the £30k-per-week ace, who finally made his England debut this summer, scored ten goals and provided four assists in the English top-flight last season, particularly coming into his own toward the end of the campaign, scoring six goals and providing one assist across the final nine outings as the Eagles constructed a late purple patch under the sagely Roy Hodgson’s stewardship.
According to FBref, Eze now ranks among the top 1% of midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues for goals, top 6% for shot-creating actions, top 16% for progressive carries, and top 1% for successful take-ons per 90.
Eze normally plays in the attacking midfield spot, but he has found success in a variety of deployments, and if Klopp chooses to use him in a way that allows his box-crashing abilities to be highlighted, it might prove to be a masterstroke of a signing.
Especially given the explosive connection he might form with Mohamed Salah, whose all-encompassing offense could allow Eze to find dangerous openings with alarming regularity.
Salah has been exceptional since joining Liverpool from Roma in 2017, scoring 186 goals and providing 79 assists in 305 appearances, garnering former Ballon d’Or winner Michael Owen’s praise as “one of the greatest of all time.”
The £350k-per-week Egyptian ranks among the top 3% of attacking midfielders and wingers in goals, assists, and touches in the attacking box per 90, and given his innate ability to find goals and assists in abundance, a gem like Eze will have no problem getting in on the action by darting into promising positions.