Liverpool’s transfer move for Thomas Lemar hit a huge blow when the French international openly expressed his interests to play in the La Liga rather than the Premier League. After the departure of Philippe Coutinho, the Liverpool management were ready to pay the £92m asking price for Lemar as a replacement for the highly rated Brazilian.
Lemar’s name around European football spread like wildfire after AS Monaco’s title-winning 2015/16 season and was pursued aggressively by Arsenal last summer. The 22-year-old has registered 8 appearances for the French national side and is expected to be in the squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Coutinho’s exit has left a meteoric gap in the Liverpool ranks ahead of the Champions League fixture in February and Klopp needs to consider a few options outside of the Premier League to replace him.
Nabil Fekir
The highly rated Ligue 1 star is single-handedly leading a young Olympique Lyonnais squad through the current campaign with 19 goals in 26 appearances in all competitions. An astounding tally for a player who is in no sense a centre-forward.
Club president Jean-Michel Aulas has expressed his views deeming the 24-year-old to be more influential to the club than Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian superstar, Neymar. Blessed with a terrific left foot, Fekir can play the number ten role and lead the attacking lineup on a consistent basis. His incredible free kick against the league leaders last night only showed a glimpse of what he is capable of.
Christian Pulisic
Liverpool have already been linked with the Borussia Dortmund youngster and are expected to place a bid upward of £100m. Pulisic is still just 19-years-old and is already a first team regular in the USA national team. Blessed with blinding pace of the wings, the Pennsylvania-born attacker is a prolific talent and currently displaying promises of future stardom.
Primarily a winger by trade, Pulisic does possess the technical ability and vision to take up a more creative role judging by his performances for the German outfit after the departure of Ousmane Dembele last summer. Acquiring his services at such a young age will only allow the American to further his career by developing into the English game.
James Rodriguez
The Colombian maestro’s illustrious career took a huge hit after his debut season with Real Madrid when Zinedine Zidane started to favour Isco over him in the starting lineup. A regular place in the squad was not guaranteed which saw him make a loan move to Bayern Munich where he has struggled to uphold his run of form from the 2014 World Cup.
Liverpool can pay the £70m projected asking price from the Spanish side, who will look to make the trade without making a significant loss.
