Liverpool are going to be forced to go through a number of changes following Jurgen Klopp’s exit from the club.
For one thing, the Reds will have to get used to working under a new regime, with Michael Edwards returning in a more senior role this week. With Edwards, Richard Hughes is expected to join as new sporting director. But it seems obvious that Liverpool’s former employee of 10 years will have the final say.
As a result, we can perhaps expect that the Reds’ transfer strategy will remain largely as it has during and after Edwards’ reign as sporting director.
With that in mind, BILD journalist Christian Falk has explained that Liverpool will continue with their previously reported push to sign Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich.
“As is well known, Jurgen Klopp is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, but it doesn’t change the plans that they want to, at least try to get Kimmich in Liverpool,” says Falk.
“So, they’ll keep going and nothing has changed just because Klopp is moving, Liverpool are very much following Kimmich’s career.”
Liverpool pushing for Kimmich
With everything we know about Edwards’ preferred way of operating in the market, a player like Kimmich is the absolute opposite of what he usually targets.
Indeed, Liverpool barely signed a player over the age of 26 throughout Edwards’ tenure at the helm. It just wasn’t something he looked for.
There were a couple of exceptions to that rule, with Thiago Alcantara the obvious example. However, the Spaniard’s arrival from Bayern ultimately hasn’t really worked out.
If anyone at Liverpool wanted to put forward an argument for looking at slightly older players, then Thiago isn’t the best example to use.
Of course, Kimmich is not Thiago and the 28-year-old would add a great deal to Liverpool’s squad. According to The Daily Star the Germany international could be available for as little as £25m and that could appeal to the Reds.
But if Liverpool feel the need to add another midfielder to their squad this summer, Edwards will surely look at a young option with a higher ceiling. Someone like Porto’s Alan Varela, for example.
In our opinion, though we understand Edwards’ approach and it had success before, we wouldn’t mind seeing a signing like Kimmich every so often.
It must be remembered that a big reason why the transfer guru had so many hits in the market was because of Klopp. The manager knew exactly how to extract the best out of every player he was given. A new manager is unlikely to have that same quality. A different profile may be needed. So, why not have a go for Kimmich.