Liverpool are set to offer Divock Origi as part of a €100 million transfer.
This is the view of Emanuele Cammaroto, writing in Napoli Magazine, who said that Liverpool are prepared to supplement Kalidou Koulibaly‘s massive asking price with Divock Origi.
According to Cammaroto, Jurgen Klopp is ready to splash the cash in order to bring Koulibaly to Merseyside and that includes offering €60 million plus Origi for the Senegal international.
Despite a transfer market that is expected to be sluggish when the window opens, the Reds continue to be paired with expensive players.
If it’s not Timo Werner or Jadon Sancho, Koulibaly seems to be the man of choice. While it’s true that he’d be an important part of the side moving forward, he doesn’t necessarily fit with the club’s recruitment pattern.
For a start, the Napoli star’s arrival would block the development path of talent defender Joe Gomez, who has started to earn his stripes after a difficult start to the campaign.
He also doesn’t improve a weak area of the side. Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Alisson all did that – which is why Klopp didn’t mind spending big.
Koulibaly doesn’t.
Finally, the 28-year-old doesn’t have much capacity for improvement and this could be the final nail in the coffin for a manager who has already said that he likes to buy players who aren’t the finished product.
Despite the ability that Koulibaly possesses, it would be a surprise if Liverpool went out of their way to sign the man. There’s a lot about the deal that goes against the grain, and losing Origi is an interesting way to go about things.
For a start, it would leave the side short on numbers up front – especially as that deal for Werner is far from certain, no matter how many Bundesliga goals he scores.