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Despite securing a top-four spot this season, it was always understood that recruitment at Liverpool wouldn’t be easy this summer.

The club simply doesn’t have the wealth to compete with Manchester City and Manchester United in the transfer market and in order to succeed will have to target a different avenue of the market in order to improve.

James Rodriguez, Antoine Griezmann and Bernardo Silva are all individuals who simply wouldn’t entertain joining Liverpool and it has been this way for a number of years.

However, the finances at the club aren’t at all bad and with Jurgen Klopp in charge they are a huge attraction to players just below the very top bracket.

 

Priority target

This transfer window has barely begun in earnest yet the Merseyside club are already moving quickly to bolster their already frightening forward line with Roma’s Mohamed Salah a priority target after yet another exemplary season in Serie A.

Roma are not necessarily interested in selling and it has been suggested that Liverpool would have to part with a fee close to the £35 million mark in order to get this deal over the line. The club’s initial offer was nearer £25 million and that was duly rebuffed.

Now to put this into context in a time when fees are rather ludicrously inflated, Salah has scored 15 goals and contributed 11 assists in Serie A this season.

That is a tremendous return and when you consider he is also only 24 years old, the £35 million fee seems rather reasonable with the likelihood of a significant resale value rather high.

 

A perfect fit

Salah was never really given the chance to shine at Chelsea, but his qualities and playing style make him an absolute perfect fit at Anfield within the German’s system.

The Egyptian is incredibly quick and loves to both run the channels and press central defenders in their own zone. He isn’t necessarily physically gifted enough to lead the line in the Premier League but he would be incredibly useful coming off either flank.  

Sadio Mane is a similar kind of player and it was clear to see just how far Liverpool dropped off the pace when the Senegalese international was absent through both injury and international duty.

One of the accusations thrown at the Reds this past season was that they lacked depth yet Salah, whilst likely to be a regular feature, would boost that notably.

 

Consistent

Liverpool struggle with consistency with Coutinho’s 2016/17 campaign a prime example of that yet Salah is an incredibly consistent performer with his spell in Rome really improving him as a player after a difficult time in England.

In his final 10 domestic matches of the season, there was just two occasions when the forward failed to contribute either a goal or an assist.

At a time when the pressure was on Luciano Spalletti’s team to really push on and secure a Champions League qualification spot, Salah stepped up and performed.

 

Playing style perfectly complements Salah’s

Few teams in the Premier League are as exciting as Liverpool are going forward.

The midfield and defence is still incredibly weak in comparison to Klopp’s Dortmund teams but it is very easy to argue that the current attacking line-up at Anfield is by far the most gifted the German has ever worked with.

There is a certain style which makes them so effective, they give opposing defences very little time on the ball and on the counter-attack the incredibly quick forwards can punish teams who dare to try and expose Liverpool’s soft defensive line.

Salah would fit right into that mould and would represent a very smart pickup for Liverpool at a time when they needed proven performers at the top level to ensure their return to the Champions League isn’t short lived, whilst also at the same time recognising there is no way they can go after the same players the two Manchester clubs are targeting.

 

Written by Chris Winterburn

Follow Chris on Twitter @Chriswin4

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