According to German outlet SportBild, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is interested in signing Borussia Dortmund forward Donyell Malen as a back-up player behind Mohamed Salah.
The Merseyside giants had a busy summer transfer window where the focus was on their midfield. They signed Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch to strengthen the department.
As part of the next phase of their rebuild, Klopp may want a solid deputy behind Salah, and SportBild report that the German has identified Malen as the ideal player to occupy the role at the Premier League club.
However, he won’t come on the cheap for the Reds with another 3 years left on his contract. SportBild claim that Dortmund will demand at least £52 million to consider the sale of the former PSV Eindhoven man.
Top-class player
Malen signed for the German club from PSV in the summer of 2022. He had a difficult start to his career, picking up a muscle injury. The Dutchman struggled to adapt in the coming months but found his feet in the final phase of the campaign. He ended up with 10 goals and 8 assists from 35 appearances for Dortmund.
The once Arsenal graduate has continued the good form this campaign with 4 goals and 2 assists from 7 matches. Most of his goal involvements have come from the right wing and this is a position where Liverpool are lagging at the moment. If Salah were to leave in future, they have no readymade replacement with them.
Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo can play from the right flank, but neither of them are comfortable from the role and prefer to feature on the left wing or in the number nine spot. Malen would be a fantastic addition to the squad, but Liverpool need to pay big for him with Dortmund eyeing a 100 per cent profit on the £26 million fee paid to PSV. At 24, he is at the perfect age to make the step up to the Premier League with Liverpool. It could happen in January.
