Liverpool 'showing interest' in £60m Premier League hitman

Liverpool are on the hunt for a new No. 9 and the available options are fascinating.

Finding the balance between risk and reward in terms of the financial outlay for a new striker is going to be integral to a potential deal, the other factors in play will make it a particularly interesting choice.

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Take the 26-year-old Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres at Sporting, for example. His campaign has been remarkable, scoring 52 goals in all competitions, 17 more than his efforts last season. He is seemingly a guarantee of goals, but Liverpool's last signing from Portugal was Darwin Nunez.

Another option was Alexander Isak at Newcastle, but the Magpies qualifying for the Champions League has almost definitely brought any potential deal to a close, with the Reds now reportedly focusing their energy on Hugo Ekitike, a young French striker who would be more of a project striker.

Beyond those three, we are then faced with the possibility of signing Brighton's Joao Pedro, and his circumstances are completely different from everyone else on the market.

Liverpool 'interested' in gamble on Joao Pedro

According to talkSPORT, the Reds are 'showing interest' in signing the £60m Brazilian.

It was earlier reported that Chelsea were leading the race, but this latest update only mentions that Liverpool and Newcastle in the hunt.

His stats are promising, with 10 goals and seven assists this season, from just 20 shots on target and he has consistently broke the scored double-digits for the last three campaigns. For a 23-year-old playing in England, those are impressive numbers that make him an interesting prospect.

Furthermore, £60m is expected to be enough to persuade the Seagulls to let him go, which makes him one of the more affordable options available on the market.

However, his disciplinary record is proving to be an increasing concern.

Against Brentford on April 19, he was dismissed with a straight red card for violent conduct, which left him suspended for three games following a charge from the Football Association (FA).

But in training, he then also got into a row with his teammate Jan Paul Van Hecke, which caused Brighton to drop him from the remaining two games of the season as part of a disciplinary measure.

The report adds: "Sources have told talkSPORT the incident is not being reviewed internally as an attempt to force a move". However, a move is set to be on the cards anyway.

Red cards happen, so that shouldn't necessarily concern Liverpool, although the internal incident might grab the attention of the executives as a red flag, even though this row could easily have been an isolated problem that Pedro had with one of his teammates, who he won't be playing with in future.

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Whether the club decides to act on its initial interest in the player, we will have to wait and see. It is clear that other pieces of business are currently taking precedence, but a new striker might be next on the shopping list once the club's attention is freed up. Pedro could be next through the door.

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