Barcelona are in pole position for Layvin Kurzawa, according to reports. Liverpool supposedly want the player, too.
Sport claims that Barcelona are currently negotiating a free transfer for the Frenchman. Kurzawa’s contract expires in the summer, allowing the Paris Saint-Germain full-back to talk.
Barcelona may need a left-back, after all, as Sport believes they want to sell Junior Firpo. They only signed the Spaniard a year ago but clearly don’t rate him highly enough.
And so Kurzawa offers Barcelona experience at a profit – if they can shift Junior.
Funnily enough, reports have linked Liverpool with both players. There was quite a bit of hype around Junior to Liverpool last year, for instance. The Guardian believed back then that the Reds were prepared to pay over £40m to Real Betis for him.
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Fast-forward a year and now there are links to Kurzawa. Sport themselves, in fact, believe Liverpool also want the 27-year-old and reported as much late last month.
What RTK has to say
Honestly, this wouldn’t be a big loss, even on a free transfer. Kurzawa may have plenty of experience – six years at the top of Ligue 1 and three titles – but he’s just not that good. The left-back has failed to nail down a consistent spot in Paris and there’s a reason he’s leaving on a free.
He’s nowhere near Andy Robertson’s level, for instance, and would only take up a place on the bench. And on a free transfer, you can expect to pay high wages for that, too.
Instead, we’d much prefer to see faith in youth. Yasser Larouci, in particular, could be backup to Robertson, while James Milner can fill in there.
Neco Williams, too, may be worth a try as he’s set to be part of the first-team squad. He’s incredibly talented but will struggle for game time behind Trent Alexander-Arnold. Giving him another spot to fill helps provide those valuable extra opportunities.
So for Liverpool’s sake, it’s good news that Kurzawa is close to Barcelona.