Liverpool have been closely monitoring the form of Borussia Dortmund forward Julian Brandt this season.
Brandt has been excellent for Dortmund as they lock horns with Bayern Munich for a title fight. With a contract running out in 2024, 90min report that top teams from across Europe have been alerted to the 26-year-old’s situation.
One of these – surprisingly – is said to be Liverpool. The Reds are said to be one of a host of teams with ‘rising interest’ in signing the Germany international for a relatively cheap fee.
However, Dortmund reportedly won’t let Brandt go quietly. It’s claimed that the Black and Yellows are ‘determined’ to keep hold of a player who’s scored nine times for them this season.
To that end, BVB are said to be holding ‘ongoing talks’ with Brandt about extending his deal. In the meantime, clubs such as Liverpool continue to watch on.
An old flame re-enters Liverpool’s crosshairs?
Wow! Well, what a blast from the past this is. We haven’t heard Julian Brandt’s name associated with Liverpool since it became clear that Jurgen Klopp had wanted to sign him instead of Mohamed Salah.
That was back in 2017, and in the intervening six years, those two players have had very different paths.
Salah has become a Liverpool legend, winning everything he possibly could with the club. Meanwhile Brandt earned a £21.5m move from Bayer Leverkusen to Dortmund in 2019 but hasn’t exactly made Liverpool kick themselves since. Although the German has underwhelmed for much of the last four years, he’s having a good year one time around.
Still only twenty-six, you could see why Liverpool would be interested in him. As a versatile roaming midfielder or wide player, Brandt may suit playing in Liverpool’s front or midfield three. He’s clever, technical and silky smooth on the ball.
Back in February 2020, Brandt was playing so well that former Leverkusen teammate Kai Havertz had this to say about his performances.
“Sancho and Haaland are not playing so badly either, but at the moment he is the best player at Dortmund” [Kicker]. Anyone who can outperform the monster that is Erling Haaland is worth glancing an eye over. But we really, really can’t see this one happening.