Liverpool are real fans of £37m player who left Barcelona in 2019, he’s keen to join

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Liverpool are admirers of Zenit St Petersburg forward Malcom as he ponders a move back to Europe’s top leagues.

Malcom has been playing in Russia with Zenit for the past four years having made a brief stop in Barcelona in 2018/19. And after just bagging a staggering 23 goals in the Russian Premier League, Footmercato report that he’s ‘likely’ to leave this summer.

Surprisingly, Liverpool are named as one of the sides most interested in the 26-year-old. It’s claimed that the Reds ‘appreciate’ Malcom and could perhaps move to sign him.

PSG are another named suitor. However, it appears that the interest doesn’t actually come from the club itself, but rather from the player. Malcom is said to have a transfer to Paris ‘in the back of his mind’ having come close to joining them in January.

That reportedly doesn’t mean he isn’t keen to move elsewhere, though. Malcom is said to see interest from clubs such as Liverpool with ‘a positive eye.’

Liverpool linked with Malcom

This is one of the more surprising transfer stories we’ve seen all summer. But the more you think about it, the more it may actually make sense.

Prior to his switch to Russia, Malcom was really highly rated in Europe. He joined Barcelona for almost £37m as a 21-year-old and big things were expected of him. Although he played just 25 times for Barca, he’s now really starting to make good on that talent.

At 26, the two-time Brazil international in his prime. But, coming from Russia, he shouldn’t – and probably wouldn’t – expect to be a starter straight away at Anfield.

Nevertheless, Maclom could be a really good option for when Mohamed Salah heads off to AFCON in Janauary. Naturally left-footed and with an eye for goal, the Brazilian could be a like-for-like swap for Mo.

The only stumbling block could be the price. Transfers from Russia don’t often tend to come with big money price-tags, but Malcom is possibly currently the best player in the league.

He still has four years to run on his contract, so you’d imagine Zenit may ask for a big fee. No matter how much Liverpool ‘appreciate’ Malcom, they won’t pay big bucks for a 26-year-old back-up.

If a reasonable deal could be agreed though, we’d be all for this going ahead. We’ve lost one Brazilian forward this summer, why not bring in another to replace him?