Klopp should turn to surprise grafter Januzaj if he wants a versatile forward
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp should turn to surprise grafter Adnan Januzaj if he wants to sign a hard working versatile forward.
The recent injury news about Xherdan Shaqiri probably hasn’t changed the way Klopp is going to operate in the transfer market, let’s be brutally honest. But even if it’s shifted the German’s thinking just a bit, Januzaj is the surprise name he should take a look at.
We all know the way Klopp wants his front three to play. Lots of running without the ball, lots of pressing, lots of energy and the ability to cut inside from wide positions in order to make space for an overlapping full-back.
And while Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino are essentially one-trick ponies in their ability to play in more than one position, anyone Liverpool sign in this transfer window will have to have more than a few strings to their bow. Januzaj has that. In fact, he’s played nearly the same amount of games on the right wing (89) and he has on the left (56).
More from Rush The Kop
- Set to return, Virgil Van Dijk facing heavy criticism back home
- Liverpool making late comebacks all the rage once again
- Wolves tilt gives Klopp opportunity to tinker with lineup following international duty
- Players to watch in the matchup with Wolves
- Predicting Liverpool’s Next Five Premier League Fixtures
The other thing the Belgian has is the ability to do the hard yards up top but also be an effective offensive presence.
Using data from Smarter Scout, we are able to see that the Real Sociedad man had a defensive quantity (the amount of times he defended) of 69/99. That’s more than Salah’s rating of 56. Januzaj’s defensive quality (how effective he was at defending) was 84, slightly less than Mo’s 92.
This tells us that the 24-year-old is defending a lot, and most of the time he’s defending effectively. So far, so good.
Like Salah, Januzaj had his time in the Premier League at a young age and has been written off before retiring to the continent to rebuild that reputation. The former Manchester United winger has been involved in half of Sociedad’s moves that led to a goal this season, just slightly less than Salah’s 55%.
One area the youngster is weak is in shooting, but he’s still a good dribbler and gets the ball into the box well. Both of those are desirable characteristics in this side.
Next. Four back-up goalkeepers Liverpool should sign. dark
At 24, Januzaj is a lot better equipped to handle the Premier League than he was after a handful of games for the Red Devils and a stint with the chronic Sunderland. At first glance his name might seem like a surprise and a terrible choice, but it deserves to be given a second thought.