Liverpool’s preparation for the new season under Arne Slot is in full swing, with a large touring party jetting off on their tour of the USA.
The tour presents an opportunity for many of the side’s younger players to force their way into the new head coach’s plans. Players with uncertain futures such as Sepp van den Berg and Tyler Morton could use the trip to convince Slot of their worth, or put themselves in the shop window and impress managers of other clubs.
In terms of potential incomings, one man who is reportedly on the radar of LFC’s transfer committee is Real Sociedad attacker Takefusa Kubo. Japanese sports newspaper Sponichi reported that the Reds were set to pay the release fee of around €60 million for the 23-year-old. Those reports have since been disputed this morning by Real President Jokin Aperribay.
On the latest episode of our Journo Insight show, we asked the Liverpool Echo’s LFC correspondent Paul Gorst for his thoughts on the potential Kubo interest.
“SUCH A DYNAMIC PLAYER” – Japanese Football Expert On Liverpool Linked Takefusa Kubo
Paul said:
“It may well exist. We know Liverpool were offered Anthony Gordon last month and decided not to pursue that one because they felt they were well-stocked.
“You could perhaps see Luis Díaz out there [right wing], Diogo Jota has played there at times but there aren’t ideal solutions to a Mohamed Salah-less Liverpool.
“You can see why Liverpool fans would be quite keen to get a high-quality deputy to Mo Salah, but on the flip side – are Liverpool looking to bolster their frontline to the tune of €60 million?
“That’s quite a lot for Liverpool. That would make him Dominik Szoboszlai territory – 4th or 5th most expensive player of all time at Liverpool, and if it’s someone who’s not necessarily going to be playing every week, that would be an issue.
“I just question whether Liverpool would be willing to pay that release clause for someone who – at least for the next 12 months – is not going to be the first choice.
“I did see a clip of Endo – it wasn’t translated – but there was a clip of him on Japanese TV and he’s almost suggesting that he’d like Kubo to sign.
“We’ll see what happens on that one, but certainly not as advanced as reports in Japan have been suggesting in recent days.”
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Redmen Reacts
With all signs pointing to Darwin Núñez starting the season as Liverpool’s first-choice central striker, the likelihood is that Mo Salah will continue to come inside from the right wing, as he has done so successfully since his arrival at the club. The Egyptian King’s injury record has been so good over the years that there has been barely any need for an understudy or rotation option in the position. With Salah recently turning 32 and given his sizeable spell out after last season’s AFCON, adding a quality option who could potentially inherit Mo’s position seems a sensible idea. Takefusa Kubo could be that man – described as the ‘Japanese Messi’, the 23-year-old followed in the Argentinian’s footsteps by training at Barcelona’s La Masia academy. He made a high-profile switch to Real Madrid in 2019 but failed to break into the first team. Should he sign, Kopites will be hoping he can emulate Martin Ødegaard, who similarly failed to make the grade at the Bernabéu. There are slight question marks over the man hailed as a ‘future superstar’ by Wataru Endo’s goal output, but that would almost certainly improve in a more attacking side.
