Liverpool look to World Cup star for midfield depth

Liverpool were a bit short on midfield depth last season, and are going to get even shorter if Curtis Jones is sold. Most expect the Reds to sign a midfielder this summer, and we’re getting fresh links to Mainz and Japan midfielder Kaishu Sano, who is likely to cost in the neighborhood of £50m.

Sano’s profile fits in with Liverpool’s squad and Andoni Iraola’s expected tactics quite well. He has operated as a lone holder before, but is more often used as the more ambitious member of a double pivot. He’s solid defensively and has decent distribution from deep, but better known for his ball-carrying abilities and late runs to the edge of the penalty area.

You can see lots of both of those things here:

There’s certainly an argument to be made that Liverpool needs more of a pure defensive midfielder than Sano to go with their existing players, but I think they’re going to be better off with a much more fluid and dynamic midfield partnership than a true holder-progressor dynamic, given the talents of their existing players. And Sano has the chops to slot into that role.

But the Bundesliga is quite a bit more wide open than the Premier League, and lends itself to Sano’s playstyle. He gets lots of opportunities to carry forward, and his lack of size and strength is rarely exposed. There’s certainly some risk bringing a player of his physical profile in from the Bundesliga. But given how much “Prem Proven” midfielders cost at the moment, Sano at £50m might be less of a risk than the alternative.

More transfer rumours:

• As many of you pointed out, we made a mistake in the last rumour roundup. Leandro Trossard has moved to Besiktas, not Benfica. The former pays much higher wages than the latter.

• And along those lines: They’re reportedly offering Mohamed Salah €12m base pay if he comes too.

• Trossard’s direct replacement is Christios Tzolis, who’s been lighting it up for Club Brugge, after previously farming 2. Bundesliga for insane stats. It’s a risk to bet on a guy making such a huge jump up, but his production has been so consistently great at multiple levels, I think it’s a small one. Check out this more detailed analysis from Cannon Stats.

• Manchester City have reportedly set their price for Rodri at €70m. If they get that much for a guy coming off an ACL who is walking on a free in a year, that would be pretty good business. I imagine that Jose Mourinho will be begging Real Madrid to pay it.

• I would like you to look at this radar for Sunderland target Dayann Mathalie. I have not watched him closely, so I cannot confidently tell you that he is better than this, or that this is an accurate reflection of his ability. But I am now very intrigued, because what the hell?

• If Manchester United sell Marcus Rashford, they’d like to replace him with Crysencio Summerville. Problem is, the Rashford situation is not getting resolved for quite some time, and Roma is moving to snap up Summerville quickly. I enjoyed what Gian Piero Gasperini was cooking at Roma last season and if I was Summerville, I’d be happy with that move instead of waiting around for the ideal move that might never come.

• Lots of Tottenham rumours out there. First up is this silly one from Italy, suggesting that Inter Milan might make a big double swoop for Cristian Romero and Djed Spence. Given that this would cost them in excess of €100m and they can’t find €35m for the aforementioned Curtis Jones, I can’t imagine they’re actually going to make this work.

• Spurs previously rejected a £38m bid from Nottingham Forest for Lucas Bergvall, but they’re expected to come back with a second one of £45m. Given that Spurs have spent a lot of money on two midfielders who are going to prevent Bergvall from having any chance of being first choice this year, it would be surprising if Spurs were totally unwilling to negotiate here. I’m not sure how Bergvall’s value is going to increase if he’s not playing.

• And finally, the Savinho rumour persists. Spurs are still expected to buy him from Man City for £65m. I think this would be a good piece of business from both teams.

• Fulham are being linked to shooty boi left winger Martial Godo, a Strasbourg product who isn’t quite good enough for Chelsea, so he’s trying to move one neighborhood over. The per 90 numbers look nice, but so many of them are from like… three shots.

• Sick of Real Madrid pestering them about Michael Olise, Bayern Munich have decided to “leak” to their “insiders” that actually they’re interested in Vinicius Junior, presumably just as a troll. Football executives are more petty than anyone you know from any other field.

• Atléti continue to tell everyone interested in Julian Alvarez to do one, so we can probably put a lid on those rumours for one summer.

• Jarrod Bowen has decided to take a pay cut to stay at West Ham instead of seeking a transfer to a Premier League club. What a unique guy.

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