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Liverpool are said to be among a number of big clubs in Europe looking at Lille Boubakary Soumare’s midfielder ahead of the summer transfer window.
The 21-year-old defensively-oriented player was born in Senegal, but is a young French international and is highly rated in the country he represents.
In the latest special transfer podcast on the Blood Red channel, focused on French football, Ligue 1 writer Tom Williams described what kind of player Liverpool would sign if his interest were rumored.
He explained: “He is a kind of classic frame-to-frame midfielder.
“He’s very good at everything between the two penalty areas, but in one sense of attack doesn’t offer much, he’s only scored once for Lille since 2017.”
“He is not a great creator, but he is a strong, fast, powerful and progressive midfielder with an eye for a pass.”
“Lille has become a counterattack team under Christophe Galtier and Soumare is perfectly suited to that.”
“He is someone whose profile looks great for the Premier League.
“You could compare him in some ways to Tiemoue Bakayoko who went to Chelsea after winning the league in Monaco.”
“An important difference is that Soumare is much faster and more athletic than Bakayoko. Soumare would not fight with the rhythm.”
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“He is not yet a full French international, which adds to the valuation, so I think 50 million euros is the kind of price Lille will expect from him.”
“Given Soumare’s age, his potential and the level he has reached in recent seasons, it seems like a fair price.”
“When the window opens, there will be a decent amount of interest.”
Newcastle United reportedly has an offer of around £ 40 million accepted for Soumare in the January transfer window, but the player rejected a move to the northeast, opting to stay for the time being.
Soon after, there was a conflict between Soumare and Lille when word got out that their contract would expire this year, when in fact a clause had been activated that automatically led to an extension until 2022.
Soumare spent time on the bench in early February until the situation was resolved, but it was resolved quickly, although Lille is not believed to be against charging the midfielder this summer.
Williams added: “He went out and said he was very committed to the project and returned to the team, so he appears to be behind him.”
“Lille knows that he is one of her most profitable assets and she knows that he will leave sooner rather than later and what happened in that period was a reflection of a fight between a club that wants to sell and a player who knows that he will go to sell himself.
“They are making sure that when that happens, it is the best deal for all parties.”
But if Liverpool moves, with a host of options available to Jurgen Klopp in that area of the field, someone may have to leave.
Williams concluded: “Soumare’s confidence, his strength on the ball, would appear to be a Klopp player.
“The only red flag I would raise is that signing Soumare would basically be an admission that buying Naby Keita had not worked.”
(Image: Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
“I really can’t see the point of having both at the same time.
“But his skill set: he definitely meets the requirements.”
There is no suggestion at the moment that Keita would be allowed to leave Liverpool any time soon, with Klopp and the club hoping to regain the form that convinced the Reds to spend £ 52.75 million on the former star of the RB Leipzig.
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