Their best LW since Mane: Liverpool among the favourites to sign 60m star

It might sound like trite at this point, but Fabrizio Romano has moved to mollify Liverpool fans with claims that FSG are stirring up a transfer sauce somewhere in the background of another gripping summer window.

This effectively just corroborates comments made by sporting director Richard Hughes during Arne Slot‘s first press conference as head coach, stressing that the emphasis is on working with the current crop. Signings, it was said, will be made, but later down the line, probably in August.

Jurgen Klopp bowed out with a Carabao Cup and a third-place Premier League finish last term, restoring the Reds’ Champions League pedigree and enforcing sweeping midfield changes after his long-standing engine room malfunctioned, sapped and having run its course.

Liverpool are well stocked across the field, with a cascade of academy talent stretching tendrils into the first team too. However, one or two improvements must surely be made to close down Manchester City and Arsenal, and indeed fight for the prize in Europe’s elite continental competition.

Liverpool interested in wide options

There’s hope that FSG will move to strengthen Liverpool’s senior set-up with an exciting new attacking option, and according to Football Insider, that man could be Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze, with the Anfield side among the favourites to sign the talent.

Eze was excellent last season and is also being targetted by Tottenham Hotspur, but after the Eagles sold Michael Olise to Bayern Munich for roughly £50m, signing the 26-year-old won’t be easy.

Still, the England international is understood to have a £60m release clause in his contract – now, Liverpool just need to lodge an official bid.

Why Slot wants Eberechi Eze

Eze signed for Palace from Queens Park Rangers in 2020, completing a transfer rising to £20m after dazzling in the second tier. Fleet-footed and an adept dribbler, Eze has since sharpened his striking skills to a fine point, praised as a “Champions League player” by pundit Danny Murphy.

Murphy also claimed that the Englishman is “on a different planet”, though inserted the caveat that he’s not always fit – something that has inhibited Eze throughout his four years at Selhurst Park.

He has only reached 30 top-flight starts once in a single campaign, having completed his fourth year with Palace, but the sheer level of his quality suggests that he would be worth every penny.

Look, for example, at how his efforts in the Premier League last season compare to the performances of Luis Diaz. Off the bat, it can be noted that Eze is more progressive, potent and powerful in his displays.

Even creativity, which Diaz appears to have pipped Eze in, boils down to circumstance. Eze created more big chances and placed key passes into his teammates’ paths with greater regularity, though was let down by poor finishing and decision-making.

Of course, though, Eze’s glowing attacking traits is his finishing, so clinical, so effective. This is corroborated by FBref’s statistical analysis, marking him as one of the Premier League’s deadliest of his position last season.

Indeed, ranking among the top 13% of attacking midfielders and wingers in 2023/24 for goal scored and shot-creating actions, the top 5% for shots taken and the top 8% for successful take-ons per 90, Eze is on the way to becoming a “superstar” – as has been said by analyst Ben Mattinson.

Who knows, he might prove to swiftly surpass Liverpool’s Colombian flanker and prove to be Anfield’s finest left winger since the days of Sadio Mane.

Why Eze would be Liverpool’s best LW since Sadio Mane

Firstly, this is not to discredit Diaz, who was tireless and tenacious down the flank last season, breathtaking in his dribbling feats at times and invariably determined to aid the team.

But the Colombian has faced criticisms revolving around his output. 13 goals and five assists across 54 appearances is not the dazzling tally that befits his lofty talents.

It’s certainly not the tally that Mane would put up each season. The Senegalese winger is one of Liverpool’s most iconic figures in modern history, forming a crucial part of Klopp’s deadly frontline.

He was sold to Bayern Munich in 2022 but still bagged 23 goals and four assists across all competitions during his final year as a Red, ever incisive in front of goal.

His movement, intelligence and fluidity across the frontline have established him as one of the Premier League’s finest forwards of all time, described as “world-class” by Klopp and adored by the Liverpool masses.

He was at his barnstorming best during that final term, an all-encompassing, fear-inducing forward. He ranked among the top 7% of positional peers in the Premier League for goals scored, the top 12% for shot-creating actions, the top 16% for passes attempted and the top 12% for progressive passes and progressive carries per 90.

A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.

Truly, Diaz has not fallen short by failing to emulate Mane to the same degree – there are scant few forwards littered across the last decade of European football who would have been able to do as such. But indeed, Diaz’s underlying numbers are not as impressive as Eze’s, who would stand an excellent chance of making his mark on Liverpool’s left flank and bringing some newfound attacking impetus to Slot’s outfit.

Liverpool, indeed, were plagued by poor finishing last year, with wayward shooting at the crux of the late-season wobble that ruined title aspirations across three competitions. Still, having created the most big chances in the Premier League with 102, Eze would enter the right zone to continue his free-scoring success.

Liverpool need to add an ingredient or two to their unit under Slot, and Eze could be the perfect man for the job – the second coming of an unforgettable ‘superstar’.