Liverpool’s summer transfer business is ready to get serious as Arne Slot aims to revamp his attack.
The Reds have been by far and away the Premier League’s top scorers this season but have been overly reliant on the goals of Mohamed Salah.
With Salah set to turn 33 this summer, and departing for AFCON during the winter, Liverpool need to pre-empt a dip in output from the Egyptian.
To that end, Liverpool are certainly busy. A huge deal to sign Florian Wirtz is being worked on, while other targets remain in their crosshairs, too.
Given Slot has had to rotate his central options over the course of the season, it has been difficult to judge exactly what the Liverpool head coach wants in the position.
A player who could give Slot a mixture of goal-scoring and creating is Brighton’s Joao Pedro. But after journalist Fabrizio Romano confirmed Liverpool’s interest in Pedro on Wednesday, some worries have emerged over the Brazilian.
Liverpool’s interest in Joao Pedro confirmed
First things first, Pedro is clearly a very talented player. The 23-year-old has hit 30 goals in 70 matches for Brighton and has an impressive body of work in the Championship before that.
There is clearly a reason Liverpool like him, and according to Romano, they absolutely do.
“The information I can tell you today is that Joao Pedro is seriously considering to leaving Brighton in the summer transfer window,” the journalist said on Wednesday. “It’s a strong and concrete possibility. He is now open to a new opportunity and there are several clubs looking for that type of player.
“The price tag may be something like 70 million Euros, but it will be up to the club, up to Brighton for sure the interest in Pedro is there from several clubs. Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea also Newcastle were interested a few years ago so the situation is going to be very interesting and it’s one to watch.”
Given the crowded nature of the striker market this summer, not everyone is going to get their top targets. As a result, it makes sense for Liverpool to keep an eye on the situation of someone like Pedro.
However, 70 million Euros equates to around £59m, and for that kind of money, his return of five non-penalty Premier League goals this season simply is not good enough. The price tag is far too steep.
While the money will inevitably be an issue for Liverpool, though, some news recently coming out of Brighton in regards to Pedro should be an even bigger concern.
Joao Pedro involved in training ground bust-up
Throughout Jurgen Klopp’s time at Liverpool, the Reds made a point of doing extensive background checks on signings before bringing them in. Famously, Klopp had a very strict ‘no —-heads’ policy which worked a treat.
Liverpool stayed away from players who did not have favourable reports and this led to a brilliant squad harmony.
This is not to say that Pedro could not fit in brilliantly at Liverpool, and there are certainly two sides to every story.
But as The Athletic reported on Tuesday, the Brazil international was dropped from Monday’s clash with Liverpool after a training ground ‘altercation’ with defender Jan Paul van Hecke.
With Pedro sent off in his most recent appearance for Brighton, and having been involved in a high-profile, elbow swinging incident against Brentford earlier in the season, there are certainly some red flags being raised in Liverpool’s direction.
Pedro is young, still learning and could certainly add something to Liverpool should he join. But there are at least two big reasons why this is surely a non-starter for the Reds.
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