Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans could be the perfect Gini Wijnaldum replacement for Liverpool, claims former striker Brian Deane.
After five years at the club, Wijnaldum will be leaving Anfield when his contract expires this month, leaving Jurgen Klopp perhaps needing to dip into the transfer market to replace him.
Tielemans is currently being linked with a move to Liverpool, with Belgian outlet Het Nieuwsblad (via Read Liverpool) reporting that the 24-year-old is open to the idea of joining the Reds following Leicester’s failure to qualify for the Champions League.
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And Deane believes the £49.5m-rated man could be the natural heir to Wijnaldum, whose departure will leave a hole in Liverpool’s engine room.
“I’m a massive fan of Tielemans,” the ex-Leicester striker exclusively told TIF. “He’s sort of like a natural replacement for Wijnaldum. You’ve got to ask yourself, what does Tielemans think as well?
“Is he happy at Leicester, would he want to take that step? It’s perhaps quite difficult for Leicester to keep the players when they keep getting poached by the top clubs.”
Tielemans is a player who could bring a lot of attacking quality to Liverpool’s midfield.
Last season, he averaged 1.3 key passes per league game, more than the likes of Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson (via WhoScored), and scored that wonder strike against Chelsea in the FA Cup final.