Most sane people might think that, having been in the job for less than a week, Jürgen Klopp might not be plotting moves in the transfer market quite yet. Most sane people might assume he'd want to spend at least a couple of weeks with his new players, judging their strengths and weaknesses, and figuring out what he needs.
Transfer rumour mongers, of course, are not sane people. And so according to reports in Portugal and the Mirror and half a dozen other less than reputable outlets, the new Liverpool manager has signed off on the man who will soon become the club's first signing of the Jürgen Klopp era. In two and a half months when the January transfer window opens, naturally. But still. Mark it down, apparently.
The supposed top target for Klopp's Reds is to be Porto wonderkid Ruben Neves, an 18-year-old midfielder who was first linked to Liverpool over the summer and at the very least does seem to check a whole bunch of boxes that would make him a reasonable potential target for the transfer committee. If there is any reason to consider that there might be some truth to the rumour, it is this.
Neves is an exceptional talent. A player who has represented Portugal at every youth level and made more than two dozen senior appearances for Porto before his 18th birthday. In total, he has now made 42 appearances for the Primeira club since his debut in 2014 after joining Porto's academy as an 8-year-old. Last summer, he became the youngest player to represent Portugal's U21 side.
He's defensively sound but likes to spray the ball around, and if he comes good on his promise could develop into a player equally adept at screening the defence or launching a counter-attack. It's not out of the question he could also develop into a driving, box-to-box player, similar to compatriot Joao Moutinho. It's very, very easy to imagine him being a target of Liverpool's transfer committee.
It may be far too early even to properly speculate on who might end up Klopp's first Liverpool signing, but it wouldn't be a shock to learn that after having Neves put to him as a preferred target by the committee the club could make a move for the youngster in January. It also wouldn't be a shock if he ended up at any one of a dozen other big European clubs within the year.