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With just five weeks until the January transfer window opens, Liverpool may look to the market to help arrest the fall down the Premier League table.
While defensive reinforcements remain pressing—particularly at centre-back following Giovanni Leoni’s season-ending ACL injury—manager Arne Slot has signaled that it may not be a priority in January.
Antoine Semenyo’s £65 million release clause has captured Liverpool’s attention, with the Bournemouth forward offering the pace and pressing intensity the Reds desperately lack in their struggling attack.
Alongside defensive targets like Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi, Liverpool are considering whether to activate funds for a transformative January spending spree.
But it seems like the club is still doing their homework on future prospects.
Croatian outlet Novi List report that Liverpool dispatched scouting officials to Croatia over the weekend as part of their ongoing search for fresh talent, joining a host of European clubs in attendance at HNK Rijeka’s emphatic 5-0 demolition of rivals Hajduk Split at Stadion Rujevica on Saturday.
The Reds were among several high-profile clubs, including AC Milan, Parma, Sassuolo, and FC Twente, who sent representatives to monitor the Croatian First Football League clash.
While Liverpool’s precise target remains unclear, the Croatian outlet identified four players who likely caught the attention of the visiting scouts.
Most prominently, HNK Rijeka’s Toni Fruk and Hajduk Split’s Rokas Pukštas stood out as the primary candidates under observation, though teenage defender Branimir Mlačić and Rijeka winger Dominik Thaqi could also have been on the Premier League side’s radar.
Fruk scored a stunning hat-trick and registered an assist in Rijeka’s 5-0 thrashing, playing the full 90 minutes and tormenting the Hajduk defense throughout.
Fruk, who wears the prestigious number 10 shirt for Rijeka, has emerged as his side’s top scorer this season with four goals in 13 appearances across 1,083 minutes in the Prva HNL.
Standing at 178cm, the left-footed playmaker operates primarily as an attacking midfielder but possesses the versatility to play across all three positions in the front line.
Mean whole, Despite being on the losing side, 21-year-old American midfielder Rokas Pukštas likely attracted significant attention from Liverpool’s scout.
The Stillwater, Oklahoma native has carved out an impressive career path since moving to Europe, establishing himself as one of Hajduk Split’s most important players and a potential candidate for a maiden United States Men’s National Team call-up.
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