The Daily Mail has recently stated that Liverpool are ready to pay Watford’s £40m asking price for Ismaila Sarr during this summer transfer period. It is understood that the Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is looking to bolster his squad depth and has identified the Senegalese speedster as a top summer target (via The Daily Mail).
Sarr’s Spectacular Debut Season In English Football
The 22-year-old enjoyed a fantastic debut season in the Premier League as he produced some mesmerising displays as part of the Hornets attack. He managed to appear in 30 matches for the Hertfordshire outfit last season, netting six goals and securing six assists across various competitions.
Despite suffering relegation with Watford in the previous campaign, Sarr should be commended for his offensive contributions after he averaged 1.6 shots, 0.9 key passes and 1.7 dribbles per 90 minutes in the English top-flight. He even made 81.5% of his attempted passes in league football last season, which goes to show how tidy he can be when distributing the ball in the opposition half (stats via whoscored).
The former Ligue 1 talent knows Liverpool’s Sadio Mane well from their international commitments together and could be a decent back-up for him or Mohamed Salah. However, Sarr can expect to spend a lot of time on the bench if he decides to join Jurgen Klopp’s revolution at Anfield this summer.
What Will The Senegalese International Bring To Merseyside?
Sarr possesses blistering pace that he can use to get past his marker out on the wide areas. He is primarily a right-sided winger, but can also operate as a centre-forward if required, as he can make some well-timed runs in behind the opponent’s backline.
The 22-time Senegalese international did well to score and assist his fair share of goals during the 2019-20 Premier League campaign. He is even a potent goal-threat from long range as he can hit the ball with power and is usually quite accurate with his shot attempts.
Sarr will add more pace and goals to Klopp’s attack and could serve a valuable squad player at Anfield next season. Klopp is a world-class man-manager, so he might be the perfect man to oversee the Senegalese speedster’s development over the next few years.
At 22, Sarr has still got a long way to go before he enters his prime, but the lack of first-team starts could hamper his development in the long-run. At the same time, making a switch to Liverpool will offer him the opportunity to win some major trophies at the highest level. Yesterday’s Community Shield defeat versus Arsenal highlighted Klopp’s need to add more variety to his attack which Sarr would be able to provide if he is given a chance to seal a move to the north-west of England this summer.
