Udinese Confirm Concrete Zielinski Interest

Piotr Zielinski has been repeatedly linked with a Liverpool move all season. The player himself has come out and specifically mentioned the move is a possibility, underscoring his admiration for Liverpool unicorn Philippe Coutinho.

Now Udinese Sporting Director Cristiano Giaretta is getting in on the act by confirming that the Red half of Merseyside might be getting themselves a Polish international central midfielder this Summer:

"There is interest from Liverpool and it is concrete interest. He is doing very well and has the eyes of the Premier League on him."

It doesn't take too much to connect the dots from here, surely.

First the scuttlebutt from in the knows, then the rumored interest of scouts attending Empoli--where Zielinski is on loan from Udinese this season--matches. Then the player just flat comes out and talks about the move, and now the guy whose job it is to dictate which of his players get sold and which don't comes out and confirms it.

We're going to go out on a limb here and count the Polish international as part of the transfers in picture from here on out. The guy may not be the big name, or established star that people seem to just endlessly cling to as the most satisfactory solution to any transfer scenario, but the kid can ball.

He's a deep lying central midfielder, with some prospects for being pushed further up the pitch depending on how his development goes, and what the fit is like for the league. He has a delightful range of passing, which he puts to use as a creative force from those double pivot positions.

His pet movement is something like the marauding Emre Can favorite where the player sprints straight up the middle of the pitch, exchanging give and goes along the way, until he finds himself either with a shot or a final pass in and around the box. He's also joining Coutinho, Can, and Lazar in the Chips Ahoy! crew, with his propensity for an arched solution to a tightly packed defense.

Four goals and four assists in thirty-one games this year may not seem like much for a guy who starts and plays full 90s every week, but one must consider that Zielinski isn't playing with Firmino, Sturridge, and his favorite Coutinho at Empoli.

Starting and playing 90s every week should be a check in the pros column, as well. The lad is reliably fit, playing one of the more physically demanding positions on the pitch, and doing it in one of the most physically robust leagues in the world. He's ready to take that next step.

At the very least this is a hedge on Henderson's fitness. At the very best it's our midfield sorted for the next five seasons, at least. Expect something in between, and expect to be happy about it.