According to reports from Spain, Liverpool have been handed a boost to their hopes of landing the player who’s apparently Jurgen Klopp’s preferred long-term successor to Mo Salah at Anfield.
El Nacional have claimed that Real Madrid are open to accepting offers in the region of €100m (£87m) for Rodrygo, who’s deemed to have struggled at the Bernabeu since being redeployed at centre-forward to fill the void left by Karim Benzema’s summer departure.
The hierarchy at the LaLiga club ‘cannot hide the terrible disappointment they feel’ with the Brazil international, with speculation duly mounting about a potential departure at the end of the season.
The report adds that Rodrygo is considered ‘Klopp’s chosen one’ to replace Salah at Liverpool whenever the Egyptian’s time on Merseyside ends, amid the 31-year-old being strongly linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League earlier this month (The Guardian).
We’d take these reports with a pinch of salt, primarily because they suggest that Liverpool’s number 11 would ‘consider packing his suitcases’ for Saudi Arabia next year, even though his contract runs until 2025 and his agent recently reaffirmed the forward’s loyalty to his current club.
Also, why would the Reds spend nearly £100m on a player in a position where there’s no need for reinforcements as things stand, especially when other parts of the squad require more urgent attention in 2024?
While it’s true that Rodrygo hasn’t taken flight at centre-forward so far this term, netting just once in seven games (Transfermarkt), he’s been pulled out of his preferred position to try and fill the huge void left by the exit of a club legend in Benzema.
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If it’s true that the 22-year-old is Klopp’s preference as Salah’s long-term successor at Liverpool, we’re all for it, but again we’d be sceptical of that claim considering the ongoing links with other wide attackers such as Jarrod Bowen.
In any event, all such speculation is moot so long as the Egyptian King is happy at Anfield and continuing to produce the goods, with him currently on a 13-match sequence in which he’s either scored or set up a goal for his club.
At least it seems that Real Madrid could be willing to offload Rodrygo if the Reds feel a need to move for him in the future.