Liverpool are among the clubs interested in securing the services of talented Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Georgiy Sudakov, according to Italian publication Calciomercato.
Sudakov has caught the eye playing for the Ukrainian side this season. An attacking midfielder by trade, the 21-year-old has also been an able deputy deeper in midfielder and even out on the left. Predominantly though, he prefers playing as the #10.
The Ukrainian international has played 23 times for Shakthar across all competitions this season, including appearances in the Champions League and Europa League. He has scored four goals and provided two assists during this period.
Sudakov has already won 12 caps for his national team and is a regular feature under Serhiy Rebrov. Transfermarkt values the 21-year-old at £15.3m but recently signed a new contract with Shakhtar Donetsk with a release clause of £127.6m.
Sudakov is inspired by Inter Milan ace Nicolo Barella
Speaking to Sportitalia, Sudakov reveals who his role models in the game were and he was particular to single out Inter Milan ace Nicolo Barella.
“I like Luka Modric’s way of playing, then Phil Foden is a great footballer who is demonstrating all his fantastic quality. And I can Also mention Barella. They are all very creative footballers with great shots, who have been offering incredible performances at a high level for a long time. If we talk about Modric, he has been doing certain things on big stages for 15 years. Barella and Foden are younger, but They’ve been playing at a high level for at least 5 years and it’s something fantastic.”
The 21-year-old also added that although he would love to play in the Premier League, he did not have any exceptions when it came to the top five leagues and wouldn’t mind a move to any of those leagues
“Of course. As I said, the Premier League is an incredible championship, but first of all I want to play in one of the top 5 leagues and Italy is no exception in this regard .”
According to CalcioMercato, Liverpool are showing a keen interest in the talented young Ukrainian but they face competition from Manchester City, Barcelona and Bayern Munich among other clubs. With his quotes, he has sent out an open invitation to all interested clubs to come and sign him from Shakhtar.
As talented as Sudakov might be, he might not yet be ready for a move to the Premier League. His release clause is outlandish and no club is realistically going to trigger that. Liverpool might be interested in the 21-year-old but they would be better off keeping an eye on his development but not making a move for him right now. If he develops as expected, they could revisit their interest in him at a later date.
