Our resident Liverpool fans in the Football Transfer Tavern have been ordering double measures this evening in celebration of the club’s signing of Hoffenheim’s Brazilian international Roberto Firmino.
Considered a marquee signing in every regard, Brendan Rodgers has swooped very quickly to sign the attacking midfielder in a huge five-year deal worth around £29 million.
With James Milner, Danny Ings, Adam Bogdan and Joe Gomez having already been snapped up this summer, what Reds fans were craving was a truly captivating signing such as Firmino and someone that can make the Kop stand up in adoration.
Of course, speculation that Raheem Sterling will now swap Anfield for Manchester City is rife and you’d imagine that Firmino has been brought in as a like-for-like replacement for the England international.
The Firmino signature has got our resident Liverpool fans scribbling down their potential best XI for next season on the back of beer mats all across the bar and they are licking their lips at the prospect of Firmino and Brazilian international team-mate Philippe Coutinho figuring behind a fully fit Daniel Sturridge.
With Liverpool being by far and away the most busiest Premier League side so far this summer transfer window, further additions can’t be ruled out with right back and the centre forward’s positions still expected to be filled by Rodgers and the transfer chiefs at Anfield.
So we’re taking this moment to try and second guess Rodgers while listing five more Reds targets who could end up following Firmino to Merseyside this summer.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 players to follow Roberto Firmino to Liverpool this summer.
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Nathaniel Clyne
Having already seen a £10 million bid rejected by Southampton for their England international right back Nathaniel Clyne, expect Liverpool to return with a larger bid to fill what has been a problem position in recent times.
Clyne is revered as one of the best right backs in the Premier League alongside the likes of Branislav Ivanovic and Seamus Coleman and you feel the player would be interested in moving to a side with a British core that Brendan Rodgers is looking to establish.
With Jon Flanagan still injured, Javi Manquillo unimpressive, Glen Johnson now released and Emre Can a midfielder and not a right back by trade, there is a certain pressure on Rodgers beating Manchester United to Clyne’s signature this summer.
Emre Can figured a lot for Liverpool in the position last season and although performing well against lesser opposition, the German was found out when facing the likes of Eden Hazard, Alexis Sanchez and even Stoke City’s Marko Arnautovic on that oh so forgettable final day at the Britannia Stadium.
All of this makes Clyne’s signature something of a necessity this summer.
Carlos Bacca
Only yesterday, we heard the news that Liverpool were not only speaking to now new signing Roberto Firmino but additionally South American pair Carlos Bacca and Salomon Rondon to boot.
While Danny Ings has been signed, the consensus is that Liverpool still need a top level striker to be brought into the club, simply born out of the fact that they can’t rely on Daniel Sturridge’s fitness, not to mention goals from flop signings Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert.
Bacca has been instrumental in Sevilla’s recent successes which most recently included a Europa League triumph in which the Colombian bagged a brace.
A man for the big stage, Bacca is 28-years-old so there would be no real re-sell value if the player flopped but this hasn’t stopped Liverpool in the past, despite Rodgers’ and Fenway Sports Groups’ mantra of signing younger players.
In a summer whereby available top level strikers are a rare commodity, Liverpool could do a lot worse than Bacca and if signed, would represent something of a successful summer in the market.
Then again, the likes of Lazar Markovic and Adam Lallana looked good signings last time around!
Arda Turan
An outside bet right now but a player with transfer speculation starting to swirl around them more intensely.
The latest is that Atletico Madrid’s Arda Turan is in talks with three Premier League clubs regarding a switch to England and you’d imagine one of these teams is Liverpool.
A long-term admirer of the Turkish international captain, Turan is now keen to sample a new division after being an instrumental part in Diego Simeone’s recent successes at the Vicente Calderon.
“His intention is to leave Spain this summer,” Turan’s agent Ahmet Bulut is reported as claiming.
“His will is to leave and to play in the Premier League, that is the path he would like to take to continue his career.
“We are currently in talks with three teams but I cannot reveal the names of the clubs.”
Paris Saint-Germain have also been linked with the midfielder but given this preference, the talk of a potential Liverpool switch is intensifying.
It remains to be seen whether Turan would be comfortable in joining a side not in the Champions League but one thing’s for sure; this is the calibre of player Liverpool need to break back into Europe’s elite club competition.
Aymen Abdennour
Out of all of the central defenders currently in Liverpool’s ranks, it is only really Martin Skrtel who can be considered something near consistent.
Kolo Toure, Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren all have a mistake or two in their locker and this is an area that Brendan Rodgers is reportedly keen on strengthening this summer with new arrival Joe Gomez generally seen as one for the future.
The latest central defender to be linked with a switch to Anfield is Monaco’s Tunisian international Aymen Abdennour who impressed massively against Arsenal in the Champions League last season.
Tough, uncompromising and representing something of a brick wall against the Gunners in the knock-out phase, The Telegraph recently claimed Liverpool have entered talks with the Ligue 1 club regarding his signature.
With Tottenham and Newcastle United also interested, Liverpool will face some competition but the player is reportedly open to a move this summer regardless.
Monaco have of course just sold Geoffrey Kondogbia to Inter Milan for big money and with the Principality club having to abide by Financial Fair Play regulations, perhaps Abdennour will be the next prized asset out the exit door.
Salomon Rondon
As alluded to on our second slide, another player who Liverpool are talking to at the moment is Zenit Saint-Petersburg’s Venezuelan international striker Salomon Rondon.
Currently away on Copa America duty in Chile, we have seen with the Reds’ signature of Roberto Firmino that deals can still be done despite the competition going on and this has given Liverpool fans hope that a deal for Bacca or Rondon can similarly be concluded.
Rondon has previous La Liga experience whereby he was clinical for Malaga in a spell between 2010 and 2012 and since then, his goalscoring exploits have continued at Rubin Kazan and now Zenit.
Out of the pair, Reds fans would prefer the club signed Bacca who has done it in a superior division in La Liga compared to the Russian Premier League but there is no denying that Rondon is a talented striker also.
You can’t imagine that both will be brought in so it seems Brendan Rodgers will need to prepare a big money offer for just one of the South American pair this summer.
