Liverpool make early move to sign “generational” star who’d unlock Nunez

There is little to fight for in the final week of Jurgen Klopp’s tenure as Liverpool manager, and while the cameras are fixed on the German as he prepares to take his emotional leave, the rumble of the summer transfer window can be felt on Merseyside.

Arne Slot will head the new Anfield structure that has seen Michael Edwards and Julian Ward return in senior roles for FSG and Richard Hughes swiped from Bournemouth as the club’s new sporting director.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein has confirmed that Liverpool are hoping to sign a high-level wide forward this summer following recent rumours of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah’s futures.

Slot’s style of play at Feyenoord is discernibly fast-paced and front-footed, configuring his midfield to a triangular point that could see Dominik Szoboszlai revived in a more attacking role.

He requires pace and power and dynamism from his wide forwards, and Edwards and his team appear to be closing on just the man to ignite the project.

Liverpool eyeing wide forward

According to reporter Ibrahim Sannie Daara, Liverpool have made contact with West Ham United as they consider launching an early move for winger Mohammed Kudus.

This isn’t the first Kudus’ name has popped up recently, with transfer insider Dean Jones revealing last week that the Reds are considering triggering the player’s release clause, which Ornstein has confirmed the existence of.

It’s also stressed that Kudus is on the radar of Arsenal, Manchester City and Real Madrid, who have made preliminary enquiries. Interest in the Ghana international will be fierce this summer and Liverpool will need to move fast to secure their man.

Mohammed Kudus’ season in numbers

West Ham might not have enjoyed a second successive trophy-winning campaign, nor will they continue their recent European success into the 2024/25 campaign, but David Moyes – who will step down from his duties this summer – has certainly got bang for his buck with Kudus.

Signed from Ajax for £38m late last August after the Hammers had already raided the struggling Eredivisie giants for Edson Alvarez, Kudus arrived with a weight of expectation following some clinical displays in the Champions League, also impressing with Ghana at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The 23-year-old scored a hat-trick early in the campaign for Ajax but would be an Iron less than a week on, where he has now clinched 13 goals and six assists across 44 matches, integral in securing a top-half Premier League finish and impressing in Europe.

His actual goal-contributing metrics are nothing special, but Kudus has been electric and effective across both flanks, blending his raw speed and athleticism with intelligent, determined runs into the final third.

He would offer, in this regard, something similar to Diaz for Liverpool, though he is crafting a more potent threat in front of goal and is four years younger than the Colombian, even described as a “generational talent” by journalist Gary Al-Smith.

As per FBref, Kudus ranks among the top 21% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for goals, the top 2% for successful take-ons and the top 4% for tackles per 90, underscoring his wide-ranging skill set and the progressive power that he would bring to Slot’s Liverpool.

These key core qualities would slot into the new Anfield squad like a dovetail joint, and while he has much to improve upon, Kudus has set the tone for a promising career at the front of the European game.

How Mohammed Kudus would fit in at Liverpool

Liverpool may well lose one of their forwards this summer, and while Nunez has been under fire recently after deleting Liverpool-related imagery from his Instagram account, also attracting interest from Barcelona, it might actually be Diaz who is the most likely to depart.

Diaz, aged 27, has been one of Liverpool’s best players recently and was handed the club’s Player of the Month award for April to emphasise this point, but he’s a modest goalscoring and creative threat and this might be the optimum time to sell, with Paris Saint-Germain known suitors and Liverpool slapping a £75m price tag on his name.

By welcoming Kudus to the fold and deploying him on the wing, Nunez might actually find the perfect new cog in the system to see him realise his lofty potential.

It’s important to remember that Kudus plies his trade in a side ostensibly inferior in offence – would Diaz notch up the same numbers at the London Stadium? Would Salah?

At 23, Kudus is comfortably younger than both of Liverpool’s primary wide forwards and thus has plenty of room for growth, and given that he’s already proven himself to be one of the most ferocious ball-carrying vessels in the Premier League, he might be perfect for Slot’s system.

Nunez, as we all know, is wasteful in front of goal but this does not negate the myriad qualities that prompted an Edwards-less Liverpool to part with a club-record £85m figure for his signature back in 2022.

For all his faults, the Uruguay international has still chalked up 18 goals and 13 assists this season, considerably improving on last term’s tally of 15 strikes and just four assists.

The 24-year-old has demonstrated promising signs of growth but he will need to stem the rot that has seen him miss a litany of chances – 47 in the English top flight across his two campaigns despite scoring only 20 goals.

But as the table suggests above, Salah is not mobile enough anymore and serves more of a poaching role at Liverpool (to a world-class standard, it must be said).

Perhaps the Egyptian will find his position more central during the season to come, where his fantastic goalscoring and creativity and can still serve at the centre while allowing someone like Kudus to overlap and stretch the opposition.

Related

Liverpool now keen to sign £60,000-a-week star who terrorised Trent

This could be one of the shocks of the summer…

Nunez, of course, is the only person who can fix Nunez’s finishing, with the matter down more to temperament than technicality.

But Kudus’ addition to the team could go a long way toward improving the dynamism and energy of the side, handing the South American forward everything he needs to unearth the elite-class quality that lies dormant within.