Liverpool news: Jurgen Klopp wants his own Erling Haaland as the Reds boss sends message to striker
Jurgen Klopp appears to want Liverpool to emulate Manchester City by raiding Borussia Dortmund for their own star attacker, as the Reds are currently the club best positioned for a transfer.
This year, City matched Haaland’s £51 million release clause to acquire him from Dortmund. Pep Guardiola’s squad won the race for Haaland, despite competition from Manchester United, Chelsea, and Real Madrid, among others.
So far, the move has proven to be a masterstroke. Haaland has broken numerous records by scoring 22 goals for City in just 15 games. This includes a pair of goals in Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Brighton.
Haaland is tearing up the league and is on pace to break the 38-game season scoring record. The record is currently Mo Salah’s 32 goals for Liverpool in the 2017-18 season.
Harry Kane has been off to a fantastic start for Tottenham, scoring 10 goals in 12 games. However, he is already seven goals behind Haaland and will likely need the best season of his life to surpass the Norwegian for the Premier League Golden Boot.
Currently, Liverpool has three center forwards in their roster. Darwin Nunez, Roberto Firmino, and Diogo Jota are their names.
Liverpool initially spent £64 million to acquire Nunez from Benfica. He has scored five goals in twelve games and is beginning to make an impression under Klopp.
However, the new arrival is nowhere near completion, something that cannot be said about Haaland.
Klopp has occasionally reverted to using the dependable attacker Firmino. And this decision has paid off, as Firmino is currently Liverpool’s second-leading scorer behind Salah.
Liverpool could copy Erling Haaland signing
Upon witnessing Haaland’s extraordinary performances for City, Klopp will ponder what could have been had his club possessed the financial resources of their English rivals.
Recent reports indicate that the manager desires a Haaland to arrive at Anfield. Saturday, Football Insider mentioned Liverpool as a possible destination for Dortmund’s Youssouf Moukoko.
The 17-year-old striker has already made 53 senior-level appearances for Dortmund, scoring nine goals.
Moukoko trails Haaland in terms of goals scored at the senior level. He has performed exceptionally well for Dortmund’s youth teams.
Moukoko registered 90 goals in 56 games for Dortmund U17s, before moving up to their U19s. This was a step up, but the teen adapted exceptionally well. He scored 47 goals in only 25 games.
Clearly, the German youth international who was born in Cameroon knows where the back of the net is. And he has an extremely bright future ahead of him.
Football Insider reported that Liverpool, along with other Premier League clubs, Barcelona, PSG, and Real Madrid, are pursuing Moukoko. talkSPORT updates the transfer rumors while citing the Spanish publication Sport.
Liverpool is in the best position to sign a young forward
They assert that Klopp’s squad is the first in line to sign Moukoko. This means that his other suitors, who are all distinguished clubs, are likely to lose out.
Perhaps the relationship between Klopp and Dortmund has something to do with it. During his tenure at BVB, he helped the team win two Bundesliga titles and one German cup.
Dortmund will be more interested in negotiating with Klopp and Dortmund than with PSG or Real.
Consider also Klopp’s track record with developing young players. During his time on Merseyside, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harvey Elliott have made tremendous strides forward.
Perhaps Moukoko believes that the 55-year-old would be the best manager to develop his career with.
There is a possibility that Moukoko could join a Dortmund teammate in moving to Liverpool. The Reds are huge fans of Jude Bellingham and hope to sign him during the upcoming summer.
The midfielder could cost up to £131 million, and Chelsea and Manchester United are also interested.
Jurgen Klopp sends message to strikerAwoniyi
Jurgen Klopp lauded Taiwo Awoniyi for haunting his former team.
Awoniyi joined Liverpool in 2015, shortly before Klopp, but work permit issues caused him to be loaned out multiple times prior to his permanent departure in 2021.
Last season, the Nigerian excelled for Union Berlin, helping the Bundesliga club qualify for Europe.
His goals in Germany earned him a transfer to Nottingham Forest, where he has now scored two Premier League-winning goals for Steve Cooper’s squad.
“He’s had a sensational development,” Klopp told the media in his post-match press conference. “He has arrived where he belongs and I am happy for him, but not today so much.”
Gabby Agbonlahor feud with Jurgen Klopp revived
Gabby Agbonlahor and Jurgen Klopp have resumed their verbal battle.
Since August, the former Aston Villa striker has engaged in a back-and-forth with the Liverpool manager, and he fired another shot after Saturday’s result.
“Where do you start with Liverpool?” talkSPORT pundit Agbonlahor asked. “Mr Mentality Monster, Jurgen, five games away from home without a win this season – can he only get them up for home games at a full Anfield?
“Can he not get his ‘mentality monster’ team up for away games? Because today was shocking from Liverpool. Every player apart from Alisson was below a five out of ten today.”
Warning from Murphy
Danny Murphy, a former Liverpool midfielder, has warned his former club about the importance of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Thiago Alcantara after they were left out of the starting lineup at the City Ground.
Alexander-Arnold came off the bench and unsuccessfully challenged the goalkeeper of the opposing team, Dean Henderson.
Thiago did not play, however, because he had an ear infection in the days leading up to the game.
“They are missing a lot of players, like Diaz, Jota and Nunez. As Jurgen Klopp said, from set-plays, they did create chances. Although, in general play there was an inevitability about the lack of creativity,” Murphy told Match of the Day.
“Once you take Thiago and Trent out of that XI, you don’t really have anyone who has that courage to keep looking up and keep trying to split defences, especially packed defences like that,” the former Reds star said on Match of the Day.
“Trent played midweek so maybe he [Klopp] didn’t want to risk him, but I think there is an argument to suggest strengthening the midfield. There’s just bad luck with the forward players being missing. But it’s a huge problem. Klopp had no choice but to play the kids.”
Klopp is optimistic that some of the injured players will be able to return for Wednesday’s trip to Ajax. However, despite his return to training, Naby Keita is ruled out for the season.
Liverpool news: Jurgen Klopp wants his own Erling Haaland as the Reds boss sends message to striker
