Arne Slot Richard Hughes Liverpool 2024-25
© IMAGO - Arne Slot Richard Hughes Liverpool 2024-25
After Liverpool brought Bournemouth's former sporting director Richard Hughes into the club's hierarchy, expectations were high for the summer transfer window.
However, after spending so much time trying to convince Martin Zubimendi of a move away from Real Sociedad, which he eventually rejected, Liverpool were only able to bring in the injury-ridden Federico Chiesa through the door before the season, with Giorgi Mamardashvili not set to arrive until next season.
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Throw in the ongoing contract frustrations of Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who are set to leave the club next season if no deal is reached to extend their stay, and Hughes finds himself under pressure already.
However, Liverpool's plans for the January transfer window and beyond have been taking place in the background since the season started and the club might be set to make a statement signing in January in order to keep Arne Slot's magnificent start to the campaign going.
Darwin Nunez struggles this season
Salah has been front and centre of Liverpool's attacking efforts so far this season, scoring or assisting in 55% of Liverpool's goals in all competitions.
And although the other forwards are chipping in, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo often stepping up, there is one player who is clearly underperforming in his role in the team.
That is Darwin Nunez, Liverpool's £85m project striker, who fans are quickly losing patience with after two seasons of development on Merseyside.
His struggles are in part due to Liverpool's reliance on him as he's their only fit striker, while Diogo Jota remains sidelined, but Slot has occasionally played Diaz as a kind of hybrid No9 as a fix to the problem.
Long-term, something has to change, so the club will undoubtedly be looking at potential striker replacements.
Already on the radar is Brighton's Joao Pedro, who is having a remarkable season, scoring four goals and earning three assists in eight appearances.
These included standout performances against Liverpool's title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal, with Brighton able to ensure both teams dropped points.
His success has been in complete contrast to Nunez's struggles and earlier this week, journalist Francis Plateau linked him with a possible move to the club in January.
Plateau's rumour however needed to be taken with a pinch of salt, given his mixed reliability record, so it was a potential move that Liverpool fans quickly dismissed.
Liverpool interest in Joao Pedro confirmed
However, transfer expert Ekrem KONUR has confirmed Plateau's suspicions and it turns out that Liverpool may genuinely be looking to bring Pedro to the club.
He claims that talks have already begun, and a January move is possible if the right agreement could be made.
🚨🆕 #Brighton 🔄 #Liverpool
Liverpool shows genuine interest in Brighton striker Joao Pedro as a potential replacement for the underperforming Darwin Nunez.
▪️Talks have started, and if conditions are favorable, a transfer could happen in January.
▪️Joao Pedro is seen as… pic.twitter.com/20IJ2Nfj3y
— Ekrem KONUR (@Ekremkonur) December 7, 2024
As noted earlier, Nunez's situation needs a long-term solution, and bringing in 23-year-old Pedro could be the replacement Liverpool needs to add another dimension to the attack.
Of course, if this were to happen, then we may well have another project striker at the club.
Prior to Nunez's move to Liverpool, he was scoring goals for fun at Benfica, which is what impressed Jurgen Klopp and the club as a whole at the time.
Obviously, his old form has yet to come to fruition during his time at the club so far, but we have seen glimpses of what he can do in big games. He's scored goals against Man United, Man City, Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Newcastle and Aston Villa in his short time in England so far.
What Joao Pedro can offer at the moment is consistency in a fine vein of form, which in the short-term could help lead Liverpool to a second Premier League title and in the long-term, we would have another young talented striker on our hands who may have a higher ceiling than Nunez.
We will have to wait and see if the club decide to express any further interest in the young Brazilian talent, but if Richard Hughes wants a statement signing to kickstart his time as Liverpool's sporting director, then this move may be a match made in heaven.
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