Liverpool are interested in signing Austrian midfielder Christoph Baumgartner from Hoffenheim this summer.
According to Sport Bild, The Reds are one of a clutch of European clubs weighing up a move for the 22-year-old.
In fact, Bild claim that the interest in Baumgartner is ‘huge.’ Manchester United reportedly join Liverpool in their interest, while Leicester City and Sevilla are said to have made ‘concrete requests.’
Baumgartner reportedly has a release clause of £25m having signed a contract until 2025 just last year.
Not an obvious fit for Liverpool
If Liverpool are looking to sign a player in a similar mould to reported target Aurelien Tchouameni, then Baumgartner isn’t that player.
The Austria international is instead more of a traditional playmaker who loves to operate between the lines.
There’s question marks over whether a player like that could thrive within this Liverpool set-up. Fabio Carvalho is already surely on the way to Anfield, which means there isn’t really room for another tricky midfielder.
That being said, Baumgartner is obviously a big talent who is potentially under-priced. Still only twenty-two, he has already played almost 100 games for Hoffenheim and has 19 caps for his country.
Having joined the German club as an 18-year-old, he has progressed into the first-team. Since 2019 he has been a mainstay for Sebastian Hoeness’ side.
Baumgartner is clearly highly rated by his current club. Hoffenheim sporting director Alexander Rosen called him ‘extremely talented’ via bundesliga.com last year.
Having scored six goals and assisted just one this year in the Bundesliga, his numbers don’t look brilliant. As ever though, there’s more to football than numbers. With the right coaching, Baumgartner looks like he could be a superb player. £25m seems like a decent enough price, let’s see if The Reds will take the plunge.