Liverpool held talks with the agent of Dusan Vlahovic in May, according to an Italian outlet, with the Serbian on the Reds’ shortlist.
The 2020/21 Premier League season ended with impressive purple patches from Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino and while it was great to see them getting back to scoring, there is no guarantee it will continue next term.
In the last five games of the season, the Brazilian turned it on as he got five goals and assists to help his teammates finish third and achieve qualification for the Champions League.
That purple patch accounted for almost 30% of his total goal contribution in all comps and he is the most at risk to be in a major fight for game time next season compared to Mane and Mohamed Salah.
WEST BROMWICH, ENGLAND – MAY 16: (L – R) Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane of Liverpool warm up prior to the Premier League match between West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool at The Hawthorns on May 16, 2021 in West Bromwich, England. (Photo by Rui Vieira – Pool/Getty Images)
Gazzetta dello Sport claims that Liverpool held talks with Dusan Vlahovic last month and is a target for Jurgen Klopp and while signing someone like Erling Haaland is a more guaranteed pathway to success, there is one reason why the German would prefer signing the Fiorentina hitman.
Salah and Mane had one key thing in common before they moved to Liverpool. While they both had success before they moved to Anfield, the massive ceiling on their potential was what attracted them to Klopp.
The former Borussia Dortmund coach is world-class at man-management and getting the most out of his attacking players and so Dusan Vlahovic will be very appealing to Klopp.
Playing for a very poor Fiorentina side that finished 13th in Serie A, the Serbian scored 21 times, finding the back of the net with some of the most high-quality finishes I have seen from a forward this season.
BENEVENTO, ITALY – MARCH 13: Dusan Vlahovic of AFC Fiorentina poses with the match ball after scoring a hat-trick during the Serie A match between Benevento Calcio and ACF Fiorentina at Stadio Ciro Vigorito on March 13, 2021 in Benevento, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)
The goal that completed his hattrick against Benevento was a peach. He muscled off a defender and coolly controlled a goal kick before sliding past his man and then, under pressure from three defenders, he curled the ball into the top corner from all of 30 yards.
Liverpool would be signing a potentially world-class centre-forward in Dusan Vlahovic and at just 21, there is all the time in the world for Klopp to help him become the best player possible.
Signing Erling Haaland would require a massive fee and similarly massive wages while his Serbian counterpart would likely he happy to earn a relatively modest salary at Liverpool but his €60million fee could put a spanner in the works.
He has also said he’ll be reporting for Fiorentina’s pre-season on the 7th of July but money talks. Completing a move to sign him before then will simplify things a great deal.
