Liverpool finally target Champions League striker they might get
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After Liverpool managed to notch just over half as many Premier League goals last season than in 2013/14, dropping down five places and claiming 22 points fewer as a result, it’s no secret that the Reds require fresh impetus in attack, but they seem to have been going about it all the wrong way.
Having failed to attract talent from Europe’s top clubs last summer after securing a Champions League place, with the likes of Bayer Leverkusen, Southampton, Benfica and Sevilla eventually feeding Liverpool’s 2014/15 challenge, they were always going to struggle to do as much ahead of a Europa League tilt.
Reported target Memphis Depay left Eredivisie champions PSV for Manchester United, and Mario Mandzukic is on the verge of a switch from Atletico Madrid to Juventus after being linked with seven clubs, including the Reds, so far this summer.
Colombian Carlos Bacca has also been linked with the Merseysiders, but with his current employers Sevilla in next season’s Champions League playoffs after a second successive Europe League triumph, swapping Andalusia for Anfield doesn’t really look on the cards.
Besides, Bacca’s brilliant record of 49 goals in 106 appearances for Los Nervionenses suggests the 28-year-old will have no shortage of suitors if he jumps ship, especially if talk of a relatively-trifling £21.5m release clause in his contract proves accurate.
The latest striker linked with a move to Liverpool may be a bit more realistic, and timely, with Venezuela’s Salomon Rondon on his way back from the Copa America after his country were knocked out in the group stages, by Bacca’s Colombia among others.
Rondon bagged 13 goals in 17 Russian Premier League matches for Zenit Saint Petersburg last term, but has often found his route to the first team blocked by fellow forwards Danny, Hulk and Aleksandr Kerzhakov.
The 25-year-old arrived in Russia two months prior to Andre Villas-Boas taking over Zenit in March 2014, so whether he’s the coach’s man remains to be seen.
He would only cost £15m, according to the Independent, and may be willing to move if regular first-team football is on the table.
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