Liverpool submit €40million bid for attacking midfielder that can fourish under Klopp

Liverpool have reportedly opened the bidding for Lille attacker Jonathan Ikone with an offer worth €40million after his impressive displays for the Ligue 1 Champions.

A report from Team Talk suggests that the Reds are willing to submit a bid in the region of €40million to secure Ikone's services this summer.

The Frenchman is a superb dribbler and while his attacking output isn’t extremely high, he excels at drawing players in and exploiting the space they vacate either by playing a pass or bursting past them with a silky move.

The best comparison I can make is to Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez. The Algerian is the better player, of course, but their style of dribbling is very similar not to mention how light they are on their feet.

With Lille winning Ligue 1 this season ahead of Neymar and Mbappe’s PSG, the French side is packed with exciting talent and just as AS Monaco sold all their strongest players following their league title win in 2016, the same thing seems set to happen to Lille.

Ikone has 14 goals and assists from attacking midfield and right-wing this season which is higher than any of Liverpool’s midfielders.

Compared to Mahrez, one of City’s best forwards, the 30-year-old has 14 goals and 9 assists but he is in his prime.

Ikone is 23 and when Mahrez was his age, he was in the Championship with Leicester City and had just 8 league goal contributions. Time is on the Liverpool target’s side if they sign the Ligue 1 Champion.

His ability to play on both the wing and in a central attacking midfield role would give Jurgen Klopp the invaluable ability to switch his side around on a whim.

While Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino fell short of expectations this season, Salah was the only player offering a consistent stream of goals.

Beyond him, there were very few contributions from midfield and virtually none from defence.

Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold contributed 16 assists but if Liverpool are to become the goalscoring beast they were in the 18/19 season, they need more goalscorers across the pitch.

Signing Jonathan Ikone, who has great technique from open play and set pieces, would be a good option to have given his goalscoring ability.

At just 23, he will be able to grow and blossom under Jurgen Klopp and in a few years, when he is in his prime, he could be as good as Manchester City’s Algerian Prince Riyad Mahrez.