Jurgen Klopp wants 22y/o at Liverpool as Salah alternative; EPL rivals also interested – report

Jurgen Klopp has reportedly identified a LaLiga forward that he wants at Liverpool as a right-sided alternative to Mo Salah.

According to Fichajes, the manager is keen on Luiz Henrique of Real Betis, who’s also attracted interest from Aston Villa.

The report states that the Reds boss ‘values ​​the margin of progression that the young Brazilian has and considers that his performance in his first season in Europe is just the beginning’, believing the 22-year-old to be ‘a player who can bring quality’ to the forward line at Anfield.

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After signing for Betis from Fluminense in his homeland a year ago, Henrique hasn’t been hugely potent in Spain, with just three goals and seven assists in 43 appearances (Transfermarkt).

If anything, the winger has stood out more for his work off the ball, ranking among the top 2% of positional peers in Europe’s five main leagues last season for tackles won and the top 9% for aerial duel success (FBref).

He shouldn’t be an overly expensive target for Liverpool considering his €27.6m (£23.6m) valuation from  Football Transfers, while he could provide Klopp with greater scope to rest Salah during the upcoming campaign, and to cover for the Egyptian during the Africa Cup of Nations in early 2024.

However, the Anfield board may need to evaluate whether the figure quoted above would be worth paying for someone who’s likely to be primarily a squad player and whose goal return leaves plenty to be desired.

As outlined by Fabrizio Romano, other areas of the squad are set to be of greater priority in the summer transfer window. Once those are taken care of, maybe then the Reds could give greater attention to supplementing their already impressive forward line.

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