Liverpool can sign another Moises Caicedo with Champions League experience for just €33m.
Arsenal and Chelsea are both keen to sign Moises Caicedo before 11pm on Tuesday, when the winter transfer window closes. Even if they are forced to wait until the summer, Brighton’s valuation – currently £90m but could drop to nearly £70m at the end of the season – could rule out Liverpool bidding on Jude Bellingham for over £100m.
The Reds are looking to sign several midfielders with Wolves’ Matheus Nunes as a target and Chelsea’s admired Mason Mount, but the signing of Caicedo and Bellingham look unlikely for Liverpool with their budget. But the interest in Caicedo, after having wanted Aurelien Tchouameni last summer before leaving for Real Madrid, shows that Jurgen Klopp would also like a ball guard capable of covering the pitch.
And there are cheaper alternatives to Caicedo on the market for the Merseyside club, including one that also meets Liverpool’s criteria: RB Leipzig’s Amadou Haidara.
Haidara is a little older than Caicedo, who will turn 25 next Tuesday, but has more experience. The 22-year-old Mali international has nearly 250 club caps, more than half of them for Bundesliga title contenders RB Leipzig, and 22 Champions League appearances.
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The midfielder has a £33m release clause in his contract, which will become active this summer. For a player of his quality, age and experience, this is a pittance. That’s about half what Caicedo will ask, although a release clause requires Liverpool to pay the full amount up front.
The box-to-box fighting dynamo, who was recruited to replace Naby Keita, even once admitted that one of his role models was Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard. Haidara said: “He was an exemplary player who had everything and struggled on the pitch. I am a combative player who works hard in defense and I try to do my best in attack. I also have a good shot.”
Haidara is a troublemaker who regularly gets involved in tackling and intercepting ball possession. But despite his defensive prowess, he’s a force on both sides of the ball. If he is able to press the opponents and break up the game, the energetic Malian is also an asset once the ball is recovered, which he can carry on himself or pass to his teammates with progressive passes.
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His ability to make defensive and attacking transitions is sorely lacking at Liverpool, where Fabinho and Jordan Henderson are aging and Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are injury prone and out of contracts this summer. Haidara has even been eyed by Brighton in recent days as they prepare for the post-Caicedo era, with the success of their recent recruitment indicating he would be a very smart signing.
With Leipzig battling Bayern Munich for Bundesliga supremacy, he’s not going anywhere until the summer. However, when the £33m clause goes into effect, Liverpool may be wise to line up to give their struggling midfield some energy.
With Caicedo getting all the attention, working behind the scenes to sign Haidara would be similar to the sort of work Liverpool’s transfer team have become known for in recent years. The African’s takeover would help reintroduce the high-intensity football that Klopp is known for, and he would bring control back to the Reds and win games again.
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