Latest reports from Daily Star claim that Liverpool are still in the running to land Riyad Mahrez from Leicester City before the end of the January transfer window. BBC pundit, Pat Nevin said, “Because he plays well in teams that have a lot of possession, and that play attacking football. Mahrez just looks like a Liverpool player to me, and if I was in charge at Liverpool, I’d be banging down Leicester’s door to get him.”
The Reds are growing more and more desperate to find a replacement for Philippe Coutinho and so far their search has been to no avail. The Brazilian departed on a £142m transfer to Barcelona earlier this month and this has left a meteoric gap in the Liverpool squad ranks. Jurgen Klopp or the Anfield bosses could not persuade their number 10 to stay and this has placed the former Borussia Dortmund in a tight spot.
They bowed out of the FA Cup last night with a 2-3 loss to West Brom following the 1-0 loss to Swansea City. In no sense are Liverpool cruising and judging by their recent form – they are in danger of finishing outside the top four. They have bolstered the defence through the signing of Virgil van Dijk for £75m and still need to reinvest the Coutinho transfer fee for a marquee player.
All of us witnessed the brilliance of Riyad Mahrez couple of seasons back when the Algerian lead his team to the Premier League title and won himself the PFA Player of the year award. Mahrez is a combination of subtle class and offensive genius. His deft touch on the ball often gets the better of opposition defenders as he dribbles past them at will. He has racked up 9 goals and 9 assists in 27 appearances this season and is a key figure in the Leicester squad. Operating from the right flank, Mahrez is delegated with the creative responsibilities for the Foxes attacks and the 26-year-old does it quite well.
However, with Mohamed Salah currently dominating the Liverpool offence from the right where can Mahrez fit in? Klopp fielded Coutinho both as a winger and an attacking midfielder but is Mahrez as versatile as the Brazilian? Even though we have not witnessed the Algerian take up a central role, his playmaking abilities will find him a place in the starting XI.
Klopp needs to get the ball rolling on a move with the January window winding down to close in a couple of days.
