wicked.football

Liverpool are posing a threat to Bayern Munich’s hopes of luring back a former academy talent now making a name for himself on the international stage, according to reports in Germany.

It was a relatively quiet transfer window for Liverpool in summer 2021. Their main area of focus was on extending the contracts of some of their existing key players. In fact, they only made one new signing, defender Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig. And their latest potential target comes from another section of the Red Bull football enterprise.

According to Bild, Liverpool are interested in RB Salzburg striker Karim Adeyemi. Just 19 years old, he scored on his international debut for Germany over the weekend. It was the reward for a productive first few years in senior football at club level.

As a youngster, Adeyemi – who was born in Munich – spent a couple of years in Bayern’s academy. He left them before even reaching his teenage years, but now they want him back, according to Bild.

Adeyemi has instead spent his entire professional career so far in Austria. Salzburg signed him in 2018, immediately loaning him to second-tier side Liefering for 18 months. While there, he scored 15 goals in 35 games.

Since being back at Salzburg from 2020 onwards, Adeyemi has scored 17 goals in 59 games. This season, he has really found his form, with six goals from six games in the Austrian Bundesliga so far. It has led to speculation he could be bound for the German Bundesliga in the near future.

But while Bild mention Bayern as one of his main suitors, they also suggest interest from Liverpool and Barcelona.

The German giants are likely to be the favourites for his signature, but Liverpool or Barca could try to disrupt their pursuit.

Adeyemi costs €20m at present, which would give Salzburg a profit of €17m compared to what they paid Unterhaching to sign him three years ago. His contract runs until 2024, after he signed an extension last January upon his return to the first-team fold.

If Adeyemi was to move to Liverpool, he would follow in the footsteps of several other players to play for a Red Bull club and then the Reds themselves. In addition to Konate’s history with Leipzig, Naby Keita played for Salzburg and the Germans. Sadio Mane also represented the Austrian side earlier in his career, as did Takumi Minamino.

But Bayern have also plucked talent from Red Bull clubs – taking coach Julian Nagelsmann and defender Dayot Upamecano from Leipzig over the summer, for example. Plus, as Adeyemi’s hometown club, it seems very much that Liverpool are rivalling them for his signature rather than vice versa.

Klopp told forward needs replacing

Meanwhile, Liverpool have been advised by one pundit that one of their current starters in the attacking line needs dropping.

Klopp has been informed that his failure to bring in a new forward this summer will cost Liverpool the chance to win the Premier League title – with one player in particular called into question.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Gabriel Agbonlahor claims their failure to bolster the attack will hurt the most. He has also questioned the record of Roberto Firmino, claiming it is appalling.

“They will be in a race, but for me, they won’t win it. They have missed out this transfer window by not bringing in another attacking player,” Agbonlahor said.

“Firmino’s strike-rate is worse than mine, and that’s saying something. He is injured now.

“If you ask Liverpool fans, they will say the same. If you ask ex-Liverpool players, they will say the same. On his Instagram, Jose Enrique said that he couldn’t believe they didn’t bring in another forward.

“If one of [Diogo] Jota, [Sadio] Mane or [Mohamed] Salah gets injured, two of them are going to the Africa Cup of Nations, so you need better squad depth.”

For the record, Firmino has 67 goals in 214 appearances for Liverpool. Agbonlahor, by contrast, netted 73 goals in 322 Premier League games for Villa.

READ MORE: Exciting Liverpool target ‘ticks every box’ after suggestion of scouting mission

The post Liverpool eye debut international goalscorer as new attacking reinforcement appeared first on TEAMtalk.