Liverpool line-up INCREDIBLE Antoine Semenyo alternative

Liverpool are lining up an exciting alternative for Antoine Semenyo, who could be even better than the former Bournemouth winger.

Well, now it's official. The Ghanaian will be heading to Manchester City. After weeks and months of pursuit, Liverpool's attempts to get their desired target have not come to fruition.

How keen and how serious the club's interest was in comparison to Man City remains moot. We may never know how close Liverpool got to completing this deal, or just how far away they were from it.

One would like to think that given Richard Hughes has a close connection with Semenyo, if there was very serious interest in him, the Reds might have got it over the line.

They clearly like Semenyo, and have been wanting to add a similar profile to him for a while.

But they might just be moving onto other targets, players who they think could be better-suited to the way the Reds want to play.

Anfield Watch understands that the club has added Kevin Schade to their shortlist for the summer window. The German international has been followed by Liverpool scouts for over five years now and back when he started to emerge as an exciting youngster at Freiburg, the Reds did already consider making a move for him.

Jurgen Klopp was thought to be a particularly big fan of his playing style, but in the end, Liverpool were deterred by the big fee being asked for the youngster.

Schade moved to Brentford and has become one of their key players over the course of the last two seasons. He already has nine goal contributions in the Premier League this season, and is very close to bettering his 13 goal contributions from the previous season.

Predominantly a left-winger, Schade is very much of the Semenyo mould. He's just entering his prime at 24-years-old, and he is more of an inside-forward or inverted winger rather than a direct winger who likes to hold width.

Like Semenyo, he can play as a forward, and while he is not as effective in one vs one situations, he does have other skills in his locker that make him an ideal option for Liverpool.

For one, Schade is extremely fast. He's one of the fastest players in the Premier League and he was one of the fastest in the Bundesliga as well.

During his first season in the league, Schade clocked in a top-speed of 36.37 km/h which was faster than the likes of Alphonso Davies and Erling Haaland in the Bundesliga.

Currently, he has clocked in a top-speed of 34.8km/h for Brentford, which is the fastest for the club in the Premier League this season.

Schade's burst of speed makes him a real nuisance. Defensively, he is an asset because he likes to press high and use his speed to smother opposition players as they try to build out from the back.

When he is not on the ball, Schade thrives at running behind defences and running at the channels waiting, using that speed to leave defenders trailing in his wake.

Right now, Liverpool don't really have this kind of profile. Most of the club's wide players like to receive the ball to feet while they are in front of the defensive line rather than behind it.

Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah are very similar in that sense.

So, Schade like Semenyo could offer a new element and new dimension to Liverpool's attack. Speed is something Arne Slot has been keen to add to his squad, and the Brentford winger makes a lot of sense.

There's also the versatility that he offers. As we mentioned Schade is predominantly a left-winger but he has played centrally as a centre-forward both for Brentford and for Freiburg. Not only that, for most of his career in the Bundesliga, he played as a right-winger so he can play across the front three.

That's exactly the type of player Liverpool like to sign for their attack and Schade being added to the club's shortlist for the summer makes a lot of sense.

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