Why £80m Liverpool target could be their best signing since Szoboszlai

Liverpool are determined to climb their way back to the top, and to achieve this, FSG are preparing for another summer of sweeping change in the transfer market.

Andoni Iraola, still settling in after replacing the sacked Arne Slot earlier in June, will await new recruits, but he must also be eager to work with the likes of Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak, the forwards resurgent for their nations at the World Cup.

A pitiful Premier League title defence stands as a sobering reality check for a Reds side who are now the hunters, and not the hunted, once again.

Iraola can bring struggling stars back into the limelight, but Liverpool do indeed need to add fresh quality to their team.

Liverpool holding “meetings” for World Cup star

The noise is on Liverpool’s pursuit of elite forwards such as RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande and Paris Saint-Germain superstar Bradley Barcola, but they just as crucially require midfield replacements.

After all, both Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones face uncertain futures at Anfield, and the right deal could open the door for a big-money replacement.

Dominik Szoboszlai dazzled last season, deservedly claiming Liverpool’s Player of the Year, but he needs more support around him to lead the Reds back into the ascendancy.

Liverpool lacked flair in the middle of the park last year, and while they have been linked with midfielders such as Mateus Fernandes and Bruno Guimaraes of late, there is another standing out as the one to go for.

According to Fabrizio RomanoLiverpool are in the race to sign Morocco international Ayyoub Bouaddi, despite recent revelations that Manchester City are pushing to sign the LOSC Lille star.

The renowned transfer reporter claims that while “City have made contact with people close to the player already”, hoping to sign him ahead of 2027 and allow him to play out one more year in Ligue 1, Arsenal and Liverpool are also ready to pounce if the right chance emerges.

Liverpool and the Gunners have “had meetings” with the player’s representatives, but have not firmed up their curiosity yet. City’s advancement may well accelerate FSG’s plans.

With a price tag reaching as high as £80m, the 18-year-old is tipped for big things, and it’s an opportunity Liverpool won’t want to pass them by.

Why Bouaddi can be Liverpool’s best signing since Szoboszlai

Bouaddi is young and hardly refined as a world-class midfielder, but he’s on his way, and there’s a sense across Premier League boardrooms that this is an opportunity that cannot be allowed to go begging.

The Hungary skipper is not just a free-kick merchant, but Liverpool’s new talisman from the centre. Without him last season, Slot’s side surely would have failed in their bid to qualify for the Champions League, the most basic of provisions needed for an outfit of his stature and expectation.

Bouaddi would help Szoboszlai shift an attritional Liverpool side back toward the limelight, with his smooth and smart passing and almost balletic ability to glide upfield and make things happen something that neither Mac Allister nor Jones managed to offer at Anfield last term.

He might cost a pretty penny, but the Moroccan has the potential to become a superstar in the Premier League, adding a dimension that was sorely lacking under Slot’s management last year.

It’s worth drawing attention to the importance of robust, multi-functioning midfielders at the centre of Iraola’s system. He will need his Liverpool midfielders to be strong and stylish on the ball, adopting a high-intensity approach.

Whereas Szoboszlai has fuelled Liverpool’s fight against disaster over the past year by packing a considerable punch and demonstrating incredible versatility and resilience across a number of roles, Bouaddi would bring an artful edge to this team, helping them back into the ascendancy and toward title contention.

Who knows, perhaps Bouaddi will end up cementing himself as Liverpool’s finest signing since the Hungarian completed his transfer to Merseyside in 2023.

Bouaddi is starring at the World Cup, but the truth is that he has been hitting all the right notes for some time now. In Ligue 1 last year, the teenager started 28 games, notably making two tackles and winning 4.7 duels each game on average, also completing 61% of his dribbles.

This is a young player who could match Szoboszlai in Liverpool’s midfield next season. He would end up being one of the best bits of business FSG have completed in quite a few years now.