Leicester midfielder Youri Tielemans has emerged as a possible replacement for Georginio Wijnaldum at Liverpool.
The Dutchman was allowed to exit for Paris Saint-Germain for nothing after a new deal was not agreed, leaving Jurgen Klopp’s side light in the engine room.
The Reds have been linked with multiple midfielders since, including Renato Sanches, Saul Niguez, Florian Neuhaus and Yves Bissouma.
Youri Tielemans (L) could be a possible replacement for Georginio Wijnaldum (R) at Liverpool
Foxes star Tielemans is the latest to be touted with a move to Merseyside, with Belgian outlet Voetbal24 claiming that the 24-year-old is keen to push through a switch to Anfield and that Liverpool are willing to meet their rivals’ £64million asking price.
The Belgium international was one of Leicester’s standout performers last season, scoring nine goals and providing six assists in 51 appearances.
His beautiful long-range strike to seal FA Cup glory will go down in both club and competition history.
Liverpool do still have plenty of talent in their midfield ranks, with the likes of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Curtis Jones and Thiago Alcantara. Both skipper Henderson and Brazilian Fabinho had to play a significant part of last term in defence amid an injury crisis.
Although James Milner and Xherdan Shaqiri are not regular starters and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita are injury-prone, Jurgen Klopp has options.
But there is a sizeable hole to be filled after Wijnaldum played all 38 games in Liverpool’s third-placed finish last campaign. So, does Tielemans fit the bill?
His long-range strike to seal FA Cup glory will go down in both club and competition history
Just like Wijnaldum, the Leicester midfielder played every game as Brendan Rodgers’ outfit came agonisingly close to securing Champions League football.
But Tielemans was more effective than the Holland international. He unleashed 49 shots, created 49 chances, made 86 tackles, recovered the ball 271 times and had a dribble success rate of 65.2 per cent.
While Wijnaldum got 31 shots off, he created 28 less chances, made 63 fewer tackles and achieved 198 recoveries, while his dribble success rate was marginally lower at 64.2 per cent.
Not known for his goalscoring prowess on Merseyside, Wijnaldum notched just two goals in the top flight in the 2020-21 season and failed to register a single assist, while Tielemans bagged six goals and provided four assists.
Liverpool have plenty of talent in midfield ranks, such as Fabinho (L) and Jordan Henderson (R)
The Leicester man, in fact, scored the same number of goals as Liverpool’s nine midfielders combined in the Premier League last term.
Thiago, Henderson, Jones and Oxlade-Chamberlain were the others to find the back of the net, while Jones and Shaqiri supplied the most assists with just two apiece.
Both Tielemans and Wijnaldum held a win percentage of 53 per cent, while the former Liverpool midfielder beats his rival for passing accuracy.
Wijnaldum was the standout performer with a rate of 92.7 per cent last season, while Tielemans was the most unreliable out of the 10 stars with 81.7 per cent of his passes completed.
Thiago Alcantara (L) started 20 league games last season as Naby Keita (R) had fitness issues
However, as well as eclipsing Wijnaldum in almost every department, the Foxes midfielder also outperformed Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago, Milner, Jones, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaqiri and Keita in 11 areas.
Keita, whose Liverpool career has been hindered by fitness issues, and consequently started just seven Premier League matches last season, had the best dribble success rate at 66.7 per cent.
When Keita did feature in the top flight Liverpool won an impressive 80 per cent of their games. Reds fans will be hoping to see more of the £52m signing once the new season commences on August 13.
Although if last season is anything to go by, the Liverpool faithful may well be hoping Keita is lining up alongside a new face with Tielemans brought in to bolster the side.
