Given that Liverpool have two of the world’s best strikers on their books, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, it’ll be interesting to see whether Brendan Rodgers bothers to bolster this area of the pitch in the summer.
Perhaps the smartest move would be to bring in a younger option who could help to round out the squad. Liverpool’s current striking duo is more or less unimpeachable, but a young player might be able to build a career if the long-run if they worked hard.
This bring’s me to The Mirror‘s claim that The Reds are in the market for Lazio’s prodigious young striker, Keita Balde Diao. The Senegalese striker has made 16 appearances in the Italian domestic league and has found the back of the net four times.
As it happens, his agent Ulisse Savani has been talking about his charge’s worth, perhaps trying to engineer a summer move. Check out these quotes:
“If he was to leave Lazio, we will never find a club in Italy that will buy him, assuming the important figures that [Lazio president] Claudio Lotito would ask for.”
The important figures? It seems that when it comes to Keita, Ulisse Savani is suggesting that Lazio will hold out for more money than any Serie A club could offer. This could leave the door open for Liverpool. Indeed, as Savani continues, he name checks English football:
“How much is he worth? If a say a price Lotito will contradict me. But at present, according to my judgment, he cannot be worth less than €15million. I think Keita would be fine with a future in English football. I think that it is much better there than in Germany, for example.”
15m euros is about £12.5m. That’s a lot of money for a player that Lazio spent just £250,000 on back in 2011.
But his rise in prominence in Serie A has been remarkable to watch. It’s also worth noting that he’s just 19-years-old. That he has this big a price-tag tells you everything that you need to know about his quality.
He’s also under contract until 2017. Expecting him to come any cheaper would be foolish. If Liverpool are really interested, they’ll have to put their money where their mouth is.
What’s your take? Is Keita a good option for The Reds? Is he too expensive?
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