Cheick Doucoure – The Empire of The Kop

January transfer ‘now impossible’ for Liverpool after Achilles tendon injury – report

Farrell Keeling — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 22:14:20 +0000

Liverpool may be forced to review their January plans if Cheick Doucoure was in the frame to be targeted in the winter transfer window.

Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider now reports that a deal would be ‘impossible’ after the Malian ruptured his Achilles tendon during a 2-1 defeat to Luton Town.

The 23-year-old had been heavily linked to the Merseysiders in the summer, with the club instead opting to land Stuttgart’s Wataru Endo.

Would Liverpool have gone back in for Doucoure?

It seems highly unlikely, with all due respect to Doucoure, that our recruitment team would have pushed to secure his signature in the winter.

Whilst the former Lens man is admittedly being asked to play a different role to that which he was tasked with in France, Alexis Mac Allister’s superb start to the season leaves us in no doubt over Jurgen Klopp’s feelings on the matter.

Cheick Doucoure could be out for the season – (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

The No.10 is very much a trusted quantity in this Liverpool squad – not merely just a placeholder until a pure No.6 comes along.

In that respect, and in a similar manner to how we likely feel about Andre Trindade, it will take a rather special operator in the holding midfield role to push ‘Macca’ out of the way.

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Liverpool fans may have further hope over potential midfield coup after Tuesday teamsheet hint

Liam Togher — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 06:45:12 +0000

Liverpool mightn’t have been in action on Tuesday night, but their fans may have been paying close attention to one Carabao Cup game in particular.

Amid the Reds’ ongoing links with Cheick Doucoure, for whom a contract offer has reportedly been tabled, supporters will have noted with intrigue that the midfielder had no part to play in Crystal Palace’s comeback victory against Plymouth Argyle.

Indeed, as per cpfc.co.uk, the Mali international wasn’t even in the matchday squad for the Eagles’ trip to Home Park, a potentially telling omission given the context of the Anfield rumours and the proximity to the close of the summer transfer window.

On the one hand, it probably came as no surprise that the 23-year-old wasn’t in Roy Hodgson’s starting XI last night, with Premier League clubs often fielding much-changed line-ups in the early rounds of the Carabao Cup.

The Palace boss made seven changes from last weekend’s top-flight clash against Brentford, but of the 11 players to have started every league game for the Eagles so far this term (WhoScored), only two weren’t in the matchday squad against Argyle (cpfc.co.uk).

Doucoure was one of those (alongside Joachim Andersen), so it’s not as if Hodgson completely eschewed his regular starters for the cup tie. Indeed, Jefferson Lerma and Tyrick Mitchell started last night, while Jordan Ayew, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi all came off the bench.

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There may be an entirely different reason for the Mali midfielder not to have made the trip to Devon, but in the context of his ongoing links with Liverpool, speculation will inevitably intensify in the wake of his absence from the south Londoners’ squad on Tuesday.

His omission could give Reds fans increased hope that their club will sign the 23-year-old before Friday night’s deadline, giving Jurgen Klopp a most welcome Premier League-proven defensive midfield addition.

In terms of what happens with Doucoure, it promises to be a fascinating 60 hours or so until the transfer window closes.

EOTK Insider with Neil Jones: Arthur Theate to Liverpool? Gravenberch latest, the Caicedo transfer budget, the ‘unforgivable’ Liverpool scenario and much more!

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Liverpool have ‘sent contract offer’ to Premier League midfielder; ‘he is not alone’ – report

Peter Kenny Jones — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 17:51:41 +0000

As the transfer window edges closer to shutting, Liverpool are expected to be busy and it seems that we may well be already sending out deals to some midfield options in the hope of agreeing a move for one.

As reported by French outlet SPORTS ZONE (translated): ‘Liverpool have sent a contract offer to Cheick Doucouré in hopes of striking a deal.

‘Liverpool want to sign a 6 before Friday midnight and are keen to vary their options, Cheick Doucouré is one, for sure, but he is not alone’.

It is likely that the Reds are assessing options and perhaps trying to keep several irons in multiple fires, so that we can ensure we’re not left in a position that no midfielder arrives at the club before September arrives.

Hearing the name Cheick Doucoure is also not much of a surprise as the Mali international has been a long-lasting target and we’re widely reported to be interesting in acquiring his services.

The main worry may be that these reports aren’t being spouted from some of the most reputable sources in England and instead are coming from abroad at this point.

Jurgen Klopp delivered a dramatic victory at St. James’ Park and his side have had a brilliant start to the campaign, now would be the perfect time to capitalise on that.

We can help keep the club on a high with one or two more big signings and then ensure that this start to the season can be carried into the rest of the campaign.

Time is really running out though and it seems like we’re going to have to move rather quickly if we want to ensure the summer ends on a high.

You can view the Doucoure update via @SportsZone__ on X:

FLASH ZONE

Liverpool a envoyé une offre de contrat à Cheick Doucouré dans l’espoir de trouver un accord.

Liverpool veut signer un 6 avant vendredi minuit et tient à varier ses options, Cheick Doucouré en est une, à coup sûr, mais il n’est pas seul… pic.twitter.com/ME9bDN78gH

— SPORTS ZONE (@SportsZone__) August 29, 2023

EOTK Insider with Neil Jones: Arthur Theate to Liverpool? Gravenberch latest, the Caicedo transfer budget, the ‘unforgivable’ Liverpool scenario and much more!

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Liverpool not deterred by top target’s price-tag; £60k-p/w player wants Anfield transfer – report

Farrell Keeling — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 07:11:42 +0000

Liverpool will still look to bring Cheick Doucoure to Anfield, even despite his £70m asking price at Crystal Palace.

The player, likewise, is understood to be keen on a move to Merseyside ahead of the summer transfer window closing on 1st September, as has been reported by Football Insider.

The Reds are thought to be still in the market for a multi-functional midfielder and a left-sided centre-half, amid reports of weekend talks with Bayern Munich over wantaway star Ryan Gravenberch.

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Possessing ideal progressive and defensive traits, the Malian (on a reported £60,000-a-week, according to the aforementioned report) would fit the bill in terms of the progressive destroyer profile Jurgen Klopp and his recruitment team had identified.

However, the signing of former Stuttgart captain Wataru Endo has thrown the possibility of such a move in serious doubt.

Interestingly, it has brought prior targets like Gravenberch, Khephren Thuram and Manu Kone back into the mix. That said, Empire of the Kop understands the latter is not under serious consideration.

With the clock ticking, any action in the market surely must reach a conclusion in the near future to leave us enough time to pursue a backup centre-half before the window slams shut.

#Ep87 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Steve Kay & Tobi Altschäffl

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What Crystal Palace are now thinking about Doucoure transfer amid Liverpool interest – report

Farrell Keeling — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 10:18:36 +0000

If Liverpool have any plans on landing Cheick Doucoure’s signature this summer, they’ll have to stump up some serious cash.

The same goes for Manchester City with regard to another highly-regarded Crystal Palace talent in Eberechi Eze, with Roy Hodgson’s outfit understood to have slapped £70m price tags on each player, according to Dom Smith at the Evening Standard, in the hopes of deterring both interested parties.

“Palace hope their £70m valuations of both players will be enough to fend off interest from City and Liverpool,” the reporter wrote.

“City plan to make one major midfield signing in the next week after Kevin De Bruyne suffered a serious injury and they lost Ilkay Gundogan to Barcelona.

Having agreed an extension for Michael Olise following a failed attempt from Chelsea to lure the player away from Selhurst Park, the thinking here from Palace is quite simple: price ’em out.

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With Ryan Gravenberch – not to mention the likes of Khephren Thuram and Manu Kone – bound to cost less (if not significantly so), we’d be far from surprised to see Anfield chiefs wash their hands of Doucoure and go full steam ahead with an alternative.

That would most certainly appear to be the case either way, regardless of the asking price, given how Liverpool are now focusing on a multi-functional operator in the middle of the park.

We have options available, though following an exclusive chat with Tobi Altschaffl, it would appear that our focus isn’t directed toward Gladbach but rather one of their fellow Bundesliga outfits in Bayern Munich with talks said to be now taking place this weekend.

A breakthrough, at the time of writing, for Gravenberch has yet to be secured, though don’t be surprised to see some movement on this front by Monday if Thomas Tuchel has indeed sanctioned the player’s exit this summer.

#Ep87 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Steve Kay & Tobi Altschäffl

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Liverpool told the price they must pay to sign PL midfielder who they’ve already enquired about – Football Insider

Max Rudd — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 08:45:24 +0000

Despite already signing three new midfielders this summer Liverpool remain interested in adding another new face to their options in the middle of the park.

The Reds have been linked with numerous players including Bayern Munich’s Ryan Gravenberch and Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure and Jurgen Klopp’s side have now been told the price they must pay to sign the latter.

Football Insider are reporting that the Eagles will not let the 23-year-old leave the club for any less than £70m.

The former Lens man is under contract at Selhurst Park until the summer of 2027 and was named Palace’s Player of the Season last term – pipping the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise to the award.

It’s therefore no surprise that Roy Hodgson’s side have slapped a hefty price tag on the Mali international with the former Reds boss insisting he doesn’t want to lose any of his players this summer.

Liverpool completed the surprise signing of 30-year-old Wataru Endo from Stuttgart last week but remain on the lookout for further midfield reinforcements.

Doucoure, a player who the Anfield outfit have already enquired about, would offer immense protection to our backline and has already shown during his debut campaign in the Premier League that he has what it takes to shine at the highest level.

We were willing to spend over £110m on signing Moises Caicedo so it’s clear that we do have the funds required to sign the Palace No. 28.

We’ll just have to wait and see whether Klopp and Co. believe £70m is a reasonable asking price for the dynamic midfielder.

The Evening Standard’s Dom Smith has claimed recently that despite the south London’s outfit’s asking price for the player Liverpool believe they can secure his signature for as little as £58m.

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Crystal Palace in desperation as Liverpool interest in Doucoure confirmed – report

Peter Kenny Jones — Thu, 24 Aug 2023 09:55:07 +0000

Cheick Doucoure could be the final piece of the new midfield puzzle for Liverpool and it seems that Crystal Palace are set to be met with a quandry over whether or not they should accept an offer from us for his services.

As reported by Dom Smith and Nizaar Kinsella for The Evening Standard: ‘Palace are also desperate to keep defensive midfielder Cheick Doucoure.

‘The 23-year-old signed from Lens last summer and is wanted by Liverpool’.

If Jurgen Klopp has decided that the 23-year-old is the answer to his midfield quandary for the campaign ahead, then it looks like we’re going to have our work cut out in order to complete a deal.

If Roy Hodgson’s side are determined to keep hold of their man, then we’re likely going to bid a decent amount in order to prize him away from London before the summer comes to an end.

With Football Insider reporting that we would to field a bid of £70 million before they would even entertain parting with the Mali international, then we’re going to have to dip into our war chest of funds.

It seems that the Reds have a remaining budget of £99 million this summer and that would be a sizable chunk of that money, if we were to sign the club’s player of the season last year.

That should mean though that we can afford to complete the signing if the recruitment team are sure that the midfielder is the right man.

Time will tell on this one but it looks like we’re set to have a fight on our hands, in the closing stage of the window.

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Roy Hodgson now speaks out on Cheick Doucoure as Liverpool clear on transfer priority

Farrell Keeling — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 13:04:32 +0000

Roy Hodgson has called into question the veracity of links between Liverpool and Cheick Doucoure this summer.

The Crystal Palace head coach was directly asked about the Malian’s future and appeared to hint that the Reds’ interest was pure speculation.

“I want to keep all of the players, there’s no doubt about that. I’m the manager, the club getting money for players doesn’t help me. It would be very, very difficult, I think, with whatever money we get to replace those players,” the former Reds boss told reporters at his presser (as relayed by Liverpool World & Yahoo!Sport).

“If you’d have asked me to sit here and talk about speculation, Sky [Sports] News fills 4-5 hours a day on the subject on transfers alone.

“I’m afraid, to say, without being any way disrespectful, if most of it wasn’t speculation it wouldn’t be four hours, it would be 40 minutes.”

The Merseysiders, for their part, remain keen on landing another midfield signing beyond Wataru Endo, formerly of Stuttgart, in the current window.

To that end, they are understood to have placed the player high up on their shortlist, according to one update from Fabrizio Romano.

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With James Pearce reporting that we’re no longer keen on signing a specialist No.6, perhaps Hodgson’s latest comments do bear more than an ounce of truth.

The profile of choice is now understood to be a multi-skilled midfield operator, of the likes of which perhaps Ryan Gravenberch and Khephren Thuram, to name two, could be good fits in that regard.

Given that a pursuit of Doucoure would also require us to fork out a potentially huge sum and enter into another long, protracted transfer saga, we could understand the club keeping an open mind when it comes to the next man in through the doors of the AXA training centre.

#Ep85 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Jan Åge Fjørtoft on Wataru Endo

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Fabrizio Romano: LFC ‘board’ & Klopp in agreement over player Reds could now sign

Farrell Keeling — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 12:39:05 +0000

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that members of the Liverpool board and Jurgen Klopp both ‘really appreciate’ Cheick Doucoure.

That said negotiations between the Reds and Crystal Palace are understood to be far from advanced, with the latter especially keen to keep hold of the 23-year-old holding midfielder.

“People on the board and Jurgen Klopp really appreciate him. The problem is Crystal Palace. That’s why at the moment we can’t mention a proper negotiation between Liverpool and Crystal Palace or an advanced negotiation,” the Italian journalist spoke on the Here We Go Podcast on Tuesday morning.

“The appreciation is there, the player is high on the list of Liverpool but after losing important players Crystal Palace are really fighting to keep their players at the club.

“They don’t want to sell anyone, this is what Palace are communicating. It would take a very big proposal to change the situation around Doucoure.”

The Malian excelled in his first campaign in London following on from his switch away from Lens, winning the Eagles’ Player of the Year award despite fierce competition from the likes of Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi and Michael Olise.

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Where does Romano’s update leave Liverpool?

One might have imagined the Selhurst Park-based outfit’s success in holding on to the latter of that trio might have helped enable a Liverpool transfer for the Malian.

Judging by Romano’s update on the matter, however, it seems we’ll still have quite the fight on our hands to secure Doucoure’s signature as our fourth potential midfield signing this summer.

With this in mind, it’s understandable why whispers around the likes of Andre and Ryan Gravenberch have increased in volume in recent weeks.

All three, of course, find themselves at clubs stubbornly refusing to let their prized talents go any time soon. For Liverpool’s sake, we’ll be hoping the mood shifts very soon as transfer deadline day looms ever closer.

#Ep85 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Jan Åge Fjørtoft on Wataru Endo

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Crystal Palace set Doucoure price ahead of Liverpool’s expected bid – report

Peter Kenny Jones — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 19:04:26 +0000

Despite already signing Alexis Mac Alister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo, most Liverpool fans agree that another midfielder is needed and that man may well be Cheick Doucoure.

As reported by Pete O’Rourke for Football Insider, it seems that a price has been set for the midfielder: ‘Crystal Palace are set to ask for bids of £70million before entertaining parting with the Mali international’.

Considering that the 23-year-old beat the likes of Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise and Wilfried Zaha to their club’s player of the year award last season, it’s safe to say that he’s quite a talent.

The signing of our new Japanese international won’t have eaten too much into the budget we had to spend on Moises Caicedo and if Crystal Palace are ready to accept bids in the region of £70 million, then we should have that money available.

Although it’s a lot of change in one summer, Jurgen Klopp would be happy to see four fresh faces of such talent in his squad and that could make for an entertaining season at Anfield.

We’ve also seen the likes of Ryan Gravenberch linked with a Merseyside move this summer and so it’ll be interesting to see how we weigh up the potential options and decide who to sign.

It’s encouraging though that we seem to remain so involved in the market and there may well be one more big signing left in this window.

#Ep85 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Jan Åge Fjørtoft on Wataru Endo

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Liverpool convinced they can sign £70m defensive midfielder for ‘less than £58m’ – Dom Smith

Farrell Keeling — Thu, 17 Aug 2023 10:10:20 +0000

Liverpool could be set for a flurry of late deals in the summer transfer window ahead of the signing Wataru Endo from Stuttgart.

Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure is understood to remain the Reds’ top defensive midfield target, according to an X post from the Evening Standard’s Dom Smith.

Furthermore, the club is convinced it can snap up the 23-year-old for considerably less than the Eagles’ £70m asking price – a claim that supports reporting conducted by Miguel Delaney on Wednesday.

Cheick Doucouré is Liverpool's number one target as a No6. Crystal Palace value him at around £70m, while #LFC believe they can sign him for less than £58m. #CPFC desperate to keep him.

João Palhinha and Khephren Thuram also linked with Liverpool.https://t.co/tNeDWGrGbo

— Dom Smith (@MrDomSmith) August 17, 2023

With a fee agreed for over £21m (including bonuses) for Stuttgart’s experienced operator, a further package totalling around the £60m mark would, theoretically, still leave Liverpool with enough of a transfer kitty to pursue a left-sided centre-half.

It remains to be seen whether a reduction in the asking price can indeed be agreed, and one would imagine that the balance of negotiating power rests somewhat firmly in Roy Hodgson’s outfit’s court in light of our own pressing need, the public nature of our budget and Doucoure’s long-term contract (expiring in 2027).

To then negotiate under the £70m mark would represent quite the coup on our part.

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Liverpool could repeat PSV trick for Fabinho replacement as Chelsea advance on Palace

Farrell Keeling — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 14:42:17 +0000

Liverpool’s hopes of keeping Cheick Doucoue’s price-tag down ahead of an anticipated move for the Malian may very well depend on how timely their efforts are.

Chelsea have already been the first club to move in for their ideal pick of Michael Olise (Fabrizio Romano), whilst Football.London (via the Daily Mail) reports that Tottenham are keeping tabs on Eberechi Eze.

Similar to concerns the Reds had about Cody Gakpo’s asking price back in January (Neil Jones), any bid for the Eagles’ 23-year-old holding midfielder will surely be impacted by the imminent departure of the former teammate. Add on a further exit from the latter and the Merseysiders’ recruitment team may be forced to stump up a higher fee.

Unfortunately, the time has been and gone for us to snap up Doucoure at an especially cut-price rate, though Miguel Delaney has noted that it could still be possible to keep the price down around (or under) the £60m mark.

Already one game into the season – after having broadcast to the footballing world just how big our transfer kitty is – that figure wouldn’t necessarily be disastrous, even if Palace’s Player of the Year wasn’t our first-choice option to plug the No.6 gap.

A defensively dominant resource for the Eagles last term, with FBref ranking the ex-Lens man in the 77th, 94th and 78th percentiles for tackles, interceptions and blocks (amongst his midfield peers), however, it’s clear that the transfer would at least tick one major box for Liverpool going into the remainder of the campaign.

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Liverpool keeping two midfielders in mind as personal terms no issue for Doucoure – Delaney

Farrell Keeling — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 11:48:19 +0000

Liverpool have been reassured that Cheick Doucoure wants to come to Anfield and that personal terms would not be an issue to secure.

Miguel Delaney added for the Independent that the Reds are also keeping in mind Khephren Thuram and Joao Palhinha, though the Crystal Palace man is deemed the ‘more viable option’ of the trio at this moment.

The reporter had also claimed that the Merseysiders could snap up the Malian for a relatively cut-price fee: “Doucoure’s final price could come in at under £60 million, although Palace are wary of losing too many players this summer.”

It seems that we’ve almost come full circle with the names now being linked to a move to L4 this summer, particularly as far as Manu Kone and Nice’s midfield operator are concerned!

Make no mistake, however. Doucoure would, judging by the statistics associated with his time in Ligue 1 and England the prior term, appear to be a more than snug fit for the ‘progressive destroyer’ profile Liverpool have held in mind.

If we could hit around the £60m mark for the 23-year-old too, that should leave us more than enough room to complete any further business before the window shuts at 11pm on 1st September.

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Liverpool advancing & could sign new No.6 for £10m less than expected – Miguel Delaney

Farrell Keeling — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 10:33:01 +0000

Liverpool are now advancing in their pursuit of Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure this summer.

Miguel Delaney dropped the seismic update with the Independent on Wednesday morning, confirming that the Reds could even end up signing the 23-year-old for less than £60m.

That’s quite the drop-off from the minimum £70m asking price the Daily Mail previously claimed the Eagles would set.

Whilst we’d expect Roy Hodgson’s outfit to demand a fair chunk more than £50m for their holding midfielder – particularly in light of the league season having already begun and our own significant budget – at this point, we can hardly get picky in the negotiations.

A meeting with Bournemouth awaits at the weekend and securing a genuine No.6 for that fixture would represent a huge boost.

That said it will be the following fixture against Newcastle that Jurgen Klopp and Co. will have their eyes on as the absolute latest deadline for a new signing, and rightly so.

If we can manage to snap up Doucoure for under £70m, however, it would have to be considered something of a coup that sets us up nicely to land a top left-sided centre-half before the window closes.

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Klopp told monster duel-winning midfielder with creative streak ‘wants to go to Liverpool’

Farrell Keeling — Wed, 16 Aug 2023 09:43:31 +0000

Cheick Doucoure could be departing Crystal Palace in the near future if one reporter’s update on X is to be believed.

BBC Sport contributor and Stretty News editor Dale O’Donnell popped onto the platform for a rare bit of news about Liverpool’s transfer exploits, noting that the former Ligue 1 star has now decided that Anfield is his ideal next destination.

For what it’s worth, I’ve heard that Crystal Palace midfielder Cheick Doucoure wants to go to Liverpool.

Don’t shoot the messenger. Can’t be too sure with Chelsea hijacking deals left, right and centre.

— Dale O'Donnell (@ODonnellDale) August 16, 2023

Judging by a quick glance at his stats across two different campaigns with Lens and Crystal Palace, as shared on X by stats guru @SawkurGod, the Reds could land themselves quite the versatile midfielder.

A tale of two seasons.

Cheick Doucouré has had two notably different roles for Lens and Crystal Palace.

In 21/22, he lit up Ligue 1 with his efficient passing + box-to-box engine.

22/23 saw him deployed exclusively as a holding midfielder, magnifying his defensive work.#LFC pic.twitter.com/RYdny4Rnei

— Evan (@SawkurGod) August 16, 2023

Signing a ‘progressive destroyer’ has been at the very top of our wishlist for quite some time, and with the 23-year-old’s ability to both progress the ball, manage possession well and disrupt opposition attacks, it would seem that we’ve hit upon our ideal next signing.

Failed attempts to land either Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo aside, Doucoure shouldn’t be considered a third-choice option if he’s able to replicate stats accumulated across the U.K. and continental Europe.

It’s fair to say that, now that Liverpool’s £111m transfer kitty is public knowledge, Palace will more than likely demand a hefty fee before allowing any interested party to prise him away from Selhurst Park.

That said, the Malian does appear to be more than worth the commitment.

EOTK FPL Gameweek 1 Review : Luis Diaz starting as he means to go on? Forget Haaland… Isak the man to watch?

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