Liverpool can use Firmino's agent to close deal for 22-goal centre-forward

Liverpool are reportedly close to signing Patson Daka from RB Salzburg but if a deal doesn't come to fruition they should consider his teammate, Mergim Berisha.

A report this week suggested that a deal is close for RB Salzburg's rapid Daka and while I hope that's true, claims were made that it would be made official 'in the coming days' and nothing has materialised thus far.

With it unlikely that a deal for the Zambian will be announced, one player that Reds could be an interesting option for Liverpool is his teammate Berisha, who scored 22 goals and provided 14 assists as Salzburg won the league title by 15 points.

The 22-year-old stands at 1.88m and during Germany's 2-1 win over the Netherlands in the semi-finals of the U21 EUROs on Thursday evening, he struck the woodwork three times.

While most of his goals this season came in the Austrian Bundesliga, he did score four goals and assist twice during RB Salzburg's 6 Champions League games but was unable to help his side reach the knockouts as Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid topped Group A.

They comfortably outscored Atleti with 10 goals to their 7 but they simultaneously conceded 17 times which ruled them out of contention for the Round of 16.

One interesting thing to note is that Berisha shares an agent with Roberto Firmino which could help Jurgen Klopp if he was to explore the possibility of signing a player that would give Liverpool a new approach up front.

Divock Origi is the only tall striker that has featured under Jurgen Klopp and despite his lack of contribution recently, it helps to have the ability to change approach mid-game by swapping someone like Firmino out for more of a target man.

Transfermarkt value Mergim Berisha at just £9m and Liverpool could use their relationship with the Red Bull setup to arrange a deal to bring him to Anfield and given that Origi is set to leave this summer, it would essentially be a like for like replacement.