Following the bombshell news on Tuesday that Liverpool have ended their long-running interest in Andre Trindade, another defensive midfielder closer to home has now appeared on the Reds’ radar.
According to journalist Francois Plateau, Jurgen Klopp’s side are ‘showing serious interest’ in Lucas Gourna-Douath of Red Bull Salzburg in the lead-up to the January transfer window.
Several past players from the Austrian club have gone on to play at Anfield later in their careers, including Sadio Mane, Naby Keita, Takumi Minamino and Dominik Szoboszlai, and the 20-year-old Frenchman could possibly be the next man on that list.
Gourna-Douath is just over 6 foot tall but boasts an imposing presence at the base of midfield, winning 2.73 aerial duels per game over the last 12 months, which places him in the top 4% of positional peers in Europe for that metric (FBref).
Football talent scout Jacek Kulig has highlighted some of the youngster’s standout traits, including a ‘high football IQ & maturity’ who combined ‘athleticism & very good technical capacity’ and is a ‘tireless runner with an exemplary work rate’.
These are all attributes which’ll surely appeal to Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool supporters; while he’s already playing at a high level with Salzburg in the Champions League group stage.
Even with the Reds bringing in four midfielders during the summer transfer window, it’s still been apparent this season that we could do with a truly reliable enforcer in the number 6 role, rather than trying to pigeon-hole Alexis Mac Allister into that position.
Now that the pursuit of Andre has abruptly ended, Gourna-Douath certainly looks like he could be worth an enquiry and possibly a tidy offer ahead of the January market.
