Incoming Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has already signed off on his first piece of transfer business.
Slot was finally announced as the new man in charge of Liverpool on Monday and has seemingly wasted no time in getting down to business.
Reports are already rife of the Dutchman’s initial plans at Anfield. Despite not officially starting until June 1st, Slot is said to have his eye on how he can improve the Liverpool squad.
Darwin Nunez is reportedly one player who Slot is already pinpointing as being key to his plans.
And although he’s looking at what he can do for his current – or soon-to-be – crop of stars, the 45-year-old is also now supposedly shaping plans for new arrivals.
Arne Slot signs off on Johan Bakyoko
Slot has had a really good final season at Feyenoord. Although he couldn’t earn back-to-back Eredivisie titles with the Rotterdam club, he gave it a good go.
In the end, Feyenoord finished seven points off champions PSV Eindhoven. That’s despite finishing with a total of 84 – the exact same as last year. PSV simply had an exceptional year. Their haul of 91 was unheard of.
Part of the reason for Peter Bosz’s side’s excellence was winger Johan Bakayoko. With 12 goals and nine assists, the 21-year-old was one of the team’s most consistent sources of goals. Pacy, skilful and dangerous, ‘explosive’ is a word that best describes Bakayoko.
This has led to plenty of claims that the likes of Liverpool are seriously interested this summer. And taking to X on Monday, Belgian journalist Sascha Tavolieri claimed that Slot has given the go-ahead for the Reds to make their move.
“Johan Bakayoko considered as one of the names on the table of Liverpool FC for this summer!” Tavolieri reports. “Bakayoko’s name has been validated by Barry Hunter and Arne Slot. LFC like the player since March 2023.
“Belgian Red Devils wants in priority join a club who wants to play Champions League football. It’s very likely that his transfer from PSV happened after Euro2024! Transfer fee will be lower than the 50M€ [£43m] PSV’s expectations. Borussia Dortmund & RB Leipzig are the other concrete possibilities for Bakayoko this summer. No news from PSG so far.”
Liverpool target Raphinha as Johan Bakayoko alternative
It isn’t just Bakayoko who Liverpool have reportedly been looking at. Tavolieri goes on to claim that in the even that the Reds bring in a new right-sided forward, Barcelona’s Raphinha is also in their sights.
“Reds conscious that they will have to apply also others plans like Raphinha (also on the short-list) on the right wing to replace Mo Salah’s in case of departure,” says the reporter.
Raphinha had been linked with Liverpool before moving to Barcelona in 2022.
After claims earlier in the season that the Catalans are desperately trying to move the Brazilian on, perhaps he could be an option once again.
At 27, he’s far more experienced than the youngster Bakayoko, but maybe that isn’t a bad thing. Let’s see how this plays out.
