Now faced with the Herculean task of recruiting an elite successor to Mo Salah, Liverpool have been touted with several options currently plying their trade in the Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise and RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande are the two names which have been most cited, although persuading either of those clubs to sell could be a tough task, and the funds required would be bordering on exorbitant.
If both of those prove to be unattainable, the Reds could switch their attention to another wide attacker from the German top flight.
According to SportBild (via Sport Witness), Liverpool recently sent scouts to watch Hoffenheim winger Bazoumana Toure – and they didn’t have to travel far at all, as the game in which they saw him in action was Ivory Coast’s win over Scotland last week at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The 20-year-old is understood to have impressed the Merseyside delegation with his ‘pace and resilience’ last Tuesday, the latest of several scouting missions undertaken by LFC to analyse the forward.
He’s valued at €40m (£34.8m) by his current club, who he joined from Hammarby in Sweden 14 months ago, and doesn’t have a release clause in his contract.
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Toure’s statistics from his country’s win over Scotland certainly paint an impressive picture – as per Sofascore, he completed 86% of his passes and three out of four dribbles, won nine duels, and made four clearances and one key pass.
Whilst primarily playing on the left flank, he can also operate from the right, which’d give Liverpool some welcome versatiliy in attack, and his creative influence is underlined by a return of six assists from his last nine Bundesliga matches (Transfermarkt).
However, one notable concern about the 20-year-old is his scoring output, with just two goals in 26 games this season – not exactly the kind of form which suggests that he could go on to emulate Salah’s legacy at Anfield.
In truth, LFC need to prioritise a move for a premium option such as Olise or Diomande, considering how tough it’ll be to adequately replace the Egyptian King.
Toure isn’t operating in the same stratosphere as those two just yet, although that might come in future years, and his eye-catching performance on Merseyside appears to have resonated with the city’s most successful club.
Right now, he’d appear to be an intriguing option rather than a must-have one.
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What a surprise cheaper option
So this is a non-story. Doesn’t score goals at that non-elite level.
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