Liverpool are reportedly ‘prepared’ to launch a huge formal proposal to sign Barcelona star Jules Kounde, as per Spanish outlet Fichajes.
Following Trent Alexander-Arnold’s move to Real Madrid, the Reds decided to reinforce the right-back position by purchasing Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen last summer.
However, the Dutchman has struggled with fitness problems thus far this season. Conor Bradley is another right-back option Arne Slot has at his disposal. However, he has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to a serious injury.
As a result, Slot has been forced to use Dominik Szoboszlai on the right side of the backline, even though he prefers to play in midfield. But he picked up a red card vs Manchester City last weekend, so the Dutch boss used Wataru Endo against Sunderland in midweek.
However, the Japanese international has seemingly sustained a serious injury as well. So, it appears the Merseyside club have started exploring options to address their right-back issue next summer.
Now, Fichajes state that Liverpool have identified Kounde as a serious option and are ‘prepared’ to launch a formal £70m bid to sign him, with his existing deal set to run until 2030.
Hansi Flick considers the Frenchman a key player in his starting line-up, so he doesn’t want to part ways with him. However, the Blaugrana might be open to cashing-in on him to balance the books amid their financial difficulties, but they want more than what the Reds are willing to offer.
Kounde to Liverpool
Since joining the Catalan giants from Sevilla, the 27-year-old has won every domestic competition over the years. Moreover, he has secured his place in Didier Deschamps’ France national team’s starting line-up.
Kounde used to be a centre-back but has been playing as a right-back since moving to Camp Nou. He is quick, strong, good in the air, comfortable playing out from the back, and efficient in defensive contributions.
In 35 appearances across all competitions, he has made five goal contributions and has kept eight clean sheets thus far this season. Furthermore, Kounde has been guiding Barcelona to mount a title charge.
The 27-year-old is currently at the prime stage of his career and would be a great coup for Liverpool should they eventually manage to secure his services in the summer.
