Liverpool’s next striker? Bidding war STARTS at €60m

A bidding war is ready for the star who could be Liverpool’s next striker. The Reds have decisions to make.

Liverpool are looking to revitalise their attack this summer. Arne Slot has struggled all season to find a no.9 that works for him - now they’d like to solve that problem.

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Neither Darwin Nunez nor Diogo Jota have proven reliable enough. The former is just inconsistent as can be on the pitch, frequently spurning golden chances.

Jota is more reliable in front of goal - he just rarely plays. The Portugal star has played around one third of Liverpool’s Premier League minutes this season.

Luis Diaz has been a stop-gap there and a really solid one, to be fair. Slot has gotten quite a lot out of the Colombian but he’s not a natural centre-forward.

Liverpool want to rejig things this summer in an effort to find that natural player. Alexander Isak topped the shortlist for a long time but is thought to be completely unavailable.

Then there’s Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt. A top player but his status as the ‘alternative’ has seen his price skyrocket to €100m.

There is another interesting option, though. And the bidding war is just getting started.

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Joao Pedro to Liverpool?

The Telegraph reported this month that Brighton’s Joao Pedro is on Liverpool’s list. The Reds are watching the situation closely, with the Seagulls ready to sell the Brazilian.

The price has been cut, too, with €70m thought to be enough to land him. We’re big fans of the player - he’s a very interesting talent and one that Liverpool could almost certainly develop into a star.

But Globo in Brazil claim Chelsea are really pushing here. They hope to seal a deal quickly, with the Club World Cup on their mind.

They’re going to offer around €60m to Brighton to get Pedro to Stamford Bridge. Of course, that’s simply an opening offer - it remains to be seen if it’ll actually be accepted.

But if Liverpool do want Pedro next season, they’ll need to act fast. The big problem is that we’re not sure they’re in any position to do that.

The Florian Wirtz pursuit limits how much Liverpool can spend right now and Pedro is unlikely to be a player they go all-out for. Chelsea may have stolen a real march on the Reds here, then - Richard Hughes will be playing catchup.

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This is a situation to keep an eye on, though. Pedro is one of the best-valued strikers around at the moment as Brighton at open to a sale.