Liverpool were ultimately frustrated in their attempts to sign Jude Bellingham last summer.
The Reds had been deemed one of the sides most likely to sign Bellingham as he looked to leave Borussia Dortmund.
However, Bellingham opted to join Real Madrid instead. Since then, the 20-year-old has been sensational.
Bellingham scored 19 goals on the way to Madrid winning La Liga at a canter. The England international then topped off the season with his first Champions League title. He would have torn it up at Anfield.
Though Bellingham’s efforts eventually secured him La Liga’s player of the season award, there were others who caught the eye in Spain, too. More specially, there were some who alerted the attention of Liverpool.
Liverpool long-term admirers of Takefusa Kubo
As Liverpool move into the summer transfer window, there are a couple of areas of the squad which need Arne Slot’s attention.
One – and perhaps the main priority – is making sure Liverpool are sufficiently covered at centre-back.
As links to Leny Yoro continue to ramp up, it looks like the Reds are beginning to make some progress in that particular mission.
The second position that Slot could do with strengthening is in the Liverpool attack. There are plenty of rumours doing the rounds in regard to this, too. One name for Reds fans to keep an eye on looks like being Johan Bakayoko of PSV Eindhoven.
READ MORE: Five realistic wingers Liverpool could sign this summer
As well as Bakayoko though, Liverpool are seemingly casting their net over a host of players who could eventually succeed Mohamed Salah on the right wing.
The remit for this should be a tricky, pacy, left-footed player. And according to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, Liverpool think Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo fits the bill.
Kubo had a good season for La Real, hitting seven goals in La Liga and helping them to sixth place. His efforts have reportedly attracted the interest of four Premier League sides, including Liverpool. The Reds are said to have been watching the Japanese for ‘a long time.’
Tottenham are claimed to be one of the other teams in for Kubo, and are even reportedly ready to submit a bid for the 23-year-old. Real will supposedly be looking for around £50m to sell the forward.
Takefusa Kubo ‘as good as Jude Bellingham’
Kubo was taking La Liga by storm in the early weeks of the 2023/24 season. By the end of September, the Japan international had five league goals. He only got two more throughout the rest of the campaign.
In those opening matches though, Kubo really was impressive. One man who knows a thing or two about La Liga is player turned pundit Terry Gibson.
And spealing on the El Tel & Jon’s La Liga Weekly podcast, Gibson hailed Kubo for his display in September’s 2-1 loss for Real Sociedad against Real Madrid.
“As good as Jude Bellingham has been this year, I think Take Kubo has been on (his) level in every game he’s played,” raved the former Man United player.
With Ryan Gravenberch also recently claimed to be better than Bellingham, maybe Liverpool never needed Jude in the first place.
Keep an eye on this one.