Liverpool are keeping tabs on the contract situation of Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma.
Mitoma has been superb for Brighton over past year. His seven Premier League goals and five assists last season marked him out as one of the division’s most electric forwards.
Inevitably, this has led to speculation that the 26-year-old may not be with the Seagulls for too much longer. And according to 90min, there are several teams with their eye on Mitoma.
One of those is said to be Liverpool. The Reds reportedly join Manchester City, Barcelona and Napoli in keeping across the Japan international’s situation.
Right now, that situation is that Mitoma has just under two years remaining on his contract at the Amex. However, talks regarding an extension are said to be ‘advancing towards an agreement.’ Brighton are reportedly convinced that the Japanese is happy at their club, and expect a new deal to be signed.
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Liverpool keeping an eye on Mitoma
Just because Mitoma signs a new deal at Brighton, it doesn’t mean that he won’t be leaving the South Coast some time soon.
Both Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo penned contracts over the past year. With the ink barely, both have now left the club.
Mitoma looks set to be the next cab off that rank. Having lit up the Premier League last season, he was described as ‘incredible’ by Pep Guardiola over the summer. Four goal contributions in the opening four games of this campaign suggest he’s picking up where he left off.
That form has led to the ex-Union Saint-Gilloise loanee being named as a candidate for the division’s Player of the Month award.
If he can keep that up, then a new contract at Brighton isn’t going to deter the likes of Liverpool and City.
From a Reds point of view, Mitoma would obviously be an exciting signing. But right now, Liverpool simply don’t really need him.
Despite a good purple patch, he isn’t better than Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez or Diogo Jota. He could be a succession plan for Mohamed Salah’s eventual departure, but as a right-footer, Mitoma wouldn’t look like a natural fit. So, it makes sense to monitor the Brighton man, but we’d be surprised if anything came of it.