Eight months on from raiding PSV Eindhoven for Cody Gakpo, Liverpool could reportedly look to do the same again in the final week of the summer transfer window.
According to Dutch football journalist Rik Elfrink, the Eredivisie outfit are primed for an offer from the Reds – as well as Napoli – for Johan Bakayoko, with Burnley having already tried to land the 20-year-old, who’s been mooted to cost in the region of €25m-€30m (£21.5m-£25.7m).
The reporter posted on Twitter/X: “Johan Bakayoko can go to Burnley. PSV does not want to do this now and can also wait for interest from Liverpool and Napoli, for example. What to do with a higher bid of roughly 25-30 million?”.
Johan Bakayoko kan naar Burnley. PSV wil nu niet en kan ook nog wachten op interesse van bijvoorbeeld Liverpool en Napoli. Wat te doen bij een hoger bod van pakweg 25-30 miljoen?
— Rik Elfrink (@RikElfrink) August 24, 2023
Bakayoko has starred for PSV in the early weeks of the season, already recording four assists in just three Champions League qualifying games, setting up both of their goals against Rangers in their play-off first leg during the week (Transfermarkt).
The youngster is very adept at advancing the ball, as illustrated in statistics from FBref. Outside of Europe’s five main leagues, he ranks in the top 1% of positional peers for progressive carries per 90 (7.22), and also in the top 5% for successful take-ons (3.07) and touches in the opposition penalty area (5.86) per game.
VOTE for Empire of the Kop as Best Club Content Creator (Premier League) here: Football Content Awards OR on X with Empire’s one-click X link with:
I am voting in @The_FCAs for @empireofthekop in Best Club Content Creator (Premier League)
If Liverpool are to move for the right-sided winger in the coming days, it’d be a coup which’d have strong echoes of the Gakpo signing.
The 24-year-old is another attacker who came from PSV and was recruited with relative suddenness, rather than arriving at the culmination of a long-running saga.
Bakayoko seems like an exciting young talent who could generate much excitement around Anfield and provide some welcome right-sided attacking depth, although other parts of the squad will likely take priority in the closing days of the transfer window.
Still, this time of the year can throw up some real surprises, so let’s see if anything concrete happens between now and Friday night’s deadline.
#Ep87 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Steve Kay & Tobi Altschäffl 🎙️