Liverpool enter race for “outrageous” £56m striker

Darwin Nunez continues to trundle towards the exit door at Liverpool, forsaking him a pre-season of preparation in purple that has been wealthy with targets.

However the Uruguayan began solely as soon as within the Premier League after Boxing Day final season and scored simply seven targets throughout 47 matches in all competitions. On condition that he scored a brace in opposition to Brentford, the 25-year-old blanked 41 occasions below Arne Slot‘s wing final yr.

So then, Liverpool might want to signal a brand new striker, even having bought Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt for an preliminary £69m payment.

On condition that Luis Diaz was offered to Bayern Munich for £65.5m final month, you would possibly suppose a brand new electric-paced left winger could be on the high of sporting director Richard Hughes’ agenda.

However Rio Ngumoha could effectively have modified that narrative.

Liverpool’s newest prodigy

A star is born. Ngumoha can’t be denied now: that is an up-and-coming participant with the potential to go proper to the highest.

However let’s park our pleasure for a second; Ngumoha is barely 16 in spite of everything, and have to be dripped into life on the skilled circuit, not poured proper in and exhausted earlier than he has had the possibility to develop his outstanding technical and athletic colleges.

Nonetheless, his goal-and-assist efficiency in opposition to Athletic Bilbao on Monday afternoon was fairly the Anfield debut. Pleasant although it was, the attacking midfielder performed with such gusto and slickness on the ball, striding ahead and unleashing a assured looping strike from outdoors the world to show the limelight onto him.

Is it any surprise he has been described as a “particular” expertise by journalist Bence Bocsak, who mentioned {the teenager} “has accomplished extra dribbles (14) than another #LFC participant in pre-season.”

Slot will probably be eager to placate the mounting noise round his title, however you’ll be able to’t assist however suppose that Liverpool have spawned a custom-built Diaz alternative, one who would possibly play fairly the vital position within the years to return.

Nguomha’s ball-carrying means and capability for purpose contributions of all styles and sizes recommend he might kind a harmful partnership with Ekitike over the approaching years, however the identical stands for one more centre-forward Liverpool are all for signing this summer season.

Liverpool lining up one other striker

No, it isn’t Alexander Isak we’re on about right here. The Newcastle United quantity 9 is Liverpool’s dream goal, however the Magpies are taking part in hardball and may not even discover a becoming alternative.

Thus, Caught Offside have revealed that Liverpool have entered the race for Paris Saint-Germain ahead Goncalo Ramos, who has fallen out of favour in Luis Enrique’s system.

PSG would hope to recoup one thing within the ballpark of €65m (£56m) for the Portugal worldwide, who, aged 24, hopes to take the following step in his profession and develop into a focus for his aspect.

Although Liverpool need to signal Isak above all others, Ramos would hardly be a poor fallback, and he is additionally needed by Aston Villa, Manchester United, Juventus and Napoli.

What Goncalo Ramos would deliver to Liverpool

Ramos minimize his enamel in his homeland with Benfica earlier than signing for PSG in an €80m (£70m) deal in 2023, coming off the again of a breakout World Cup marketing campaign in Qatar 2022.

Although the Iberian ahead has solely scored 33 targets throughout 86 matches for the French giants, aiding eight targets apart from, he is hardly ever featured because the star man, beginning ten Ligue 1 fixtures in 2024/25. Nonetheless, he scored ten occasions.

And the underlying knowledge is in his favour too. As per FBref, Ramos ranked among the many high 4% of forwards throughout Europe’s high 5 leagues final season for targets scored, the highest 11% for assists, the highest 9% for go completion and the highest 2% for touches within the attacking field per 90.

The regular charge of prolific performances throughout Ramos’ senior profession so far means that Slot might form into one of many world’s foremost forwards, proving the right long-term dance associate for an up-and-coming expertise like Ngumoha.

Hailed as an “outrageous” participant by expertise scout Jacek Kulig, Ramos’ big selection of offensive devices bespeaks his suitability in Slot’s system at Liverpool. He is quick, highly effective and nimble, suggesting he might function throughout a wide range of roles for a coach who has displayed a desire for forwards who’re prepared to be fluid of their roles.

But when Ngumoha’s fast-developing potential has something to say, it is unlikely that Slot could be searching for to transform the right-footer right into a left-sided ahead, whose tempo could be used to swerve inside, able to strike on purpose.

Moreover, Ekitike has certainly already signed on and can deliver to the Premier League a extra refined and expansive sport as a frontman. In any case, the Frenchman is a imply and still-improving goalscorer himself, thus apt to dovetail proper into the Slot machine.

However Ramos would deliver the icing on the cake, guaranteeing Liverpool have sufficient firepower to compete throughout a number of fronts this season, even when the concerted effort to signal Isak falls flat.

FBref file that each Isak and Ekitike are statistically comparable gamers to the PSG star, so he is definitely acquired the appropriate talent set.

And with Ngumoha already making waves inside the Liverpool first workforce, there is no motive why these two stars could not strike up a mesmerising partnership within the years to return.