Liverpool transfers: The 5 best alternatives to Naby Keita

Riyad Mahrez

As we wrote about last week Liverpool have been keeping tabs on Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez. Liverpool and Leicester faced off a week ago in the Premier League’s Asia Trophy. The executives and management of both clubs had plenty of time to discuss Leiceister City’s  want-away midfielder.

Looking at the club’s roster there seems to be little room for a player like Mahrez. He is primarily an attacking midfielder who like to create. He sometimes starts on the wing for Leicester but mainly begins in central roles behind the strikers. His best performances come when he is given license to drift and move to find space.

Currently Liverpool have Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana playing that role. Also Roberto Firmino often plays in that position when the Klopp starts with Sturridge or Origi up front. Mahrez is an entirely different prospect to Naby Keita. So things look very crowded. However if the plan is to play Coutinho deeper regularly that would open up a space for the Algerian.

Coutinho in the deeper role is something we have talked about for a while. In this scenario the Brazilian would function more like Modric at Real Madrid; pulling the strings and linking together defense and attack.

Again a plus is that the player is available and would probably only command a fee in the £30 million range. If Liverpool are serious about returning for Keita in a year’s time then the combined fee of £78 million is about what Liverpool were expected to play this summer for the Guinean. This could be a smart piece of short-term business.