By ’Tayo Amosu
October 16, 2014
According to Daily Mirror, Liverpool are set to launch another bid to land Paris Saint Germain’s (PSG) Argentine forward, Ezequiel Lavezzi, when the winter transfer window opens in January.
Liverpool was said to be very much interested in signing Lavezzi in the summer when their former Talisman, Luis Suarez joined Barcelona in a £75m deal, but PSG reportedly pulled the plug on the deal after missing out on Angel Di Maria, who moved to Manchester United instead.
Liverpool, in the quest of filling the attacking void left by the very talented Uruguayan, Suarez, have brought in Mario Balotelli, Rickie Lambert into a squad that already has Raheem Sterling, Fabio Borini and Daniel Sturridge in the attacking line up.
Yet, Brendan Rogers is said to be still keen on having Lavezzi at Anfield.
29-year-old Lavezzi is undoubtedly a potent and experienced attacker who is capable of forming a partnership with Daniel Sturridge, reminiscent of the Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge forward pairing last season for Liverpool.
This is very evident in his goal scoring rate at Napoli and his clubs at Argentina.
However, Lavezzi has found himself in PSG with prolific attackers like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Javier Pastore, a situation that definitely limits his goal scoring.
He joined PSG from Napoli in 2012 for a fee in excess of £20m on a four year contract and has scored 12 times from 60 appearances for the French Champions.
Lavezzi’s accommodation in the PSG starting line up despite the stars inherent at the club cannot only be associated with his talent but also his versatility upfront.
He can either play as a centre forward or a winger and he has been seen in the same line-up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edison Cavani, operating from the wings, using his pace, hardworking style and dribbling abilities.
Liverpool’s performance last season was very impressive almost clinching the English Premier League title coming second on the log behind Manchester City, the eventual Champions.
This successful run of form cannot but be associated with the Sturridge and Suarez (SAS) connection in their forward line but this season, the absence of Suarez through a departure to Barcelona and Daniel Sturridge through injury has had an effect on the potency of the Liverpool attack this summer.
The signing of Mario Balotelli from AC Milan and Rickie Lambert from Southampton hasn’t really alleviated the goal scoring problem and now the manager, Brendan Rogers would look to bring in an attacker with a semblance of Suarez in term of the goal scoring rate.
Here, Lavezzi would fit the bill perfectly as a Luis Suarez replacement but the uncertainties surrounding speculations during transfer periods would still be lurking.
Though Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Roma are also said to be in the race to sign Lavezzi, Liverpool may come into the picture with a better wage package and the offer of EPL and Champions League football.
However, with an array of forward liners at Liverpool, Brendan Rogers was recently reported to be on the verge of cutting short Divock Origi’s loan spell at Lille, just to make sure Liverpool gets back to blistering goal scoring form.
How Brendan Rogers would play with Sturridge, Sterling, Borini, Lambert, Balotelli and probably Divock Origi (if reports are true or if move pulls through) all match fit, is enough cause of worry in itself, let alone the addition of another prolific attacker.
