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Over the summer, Liverpool were linked with Schalke winger starlet Leroy Sane. The 19-year-old, who has already made 30 first team appearances and scored nine goals for the Bundesliga club, has now resurfaced in the land of Liverpool transfer rumours with suggestions the club will go hard for him in January.
According to Sky Germany pundit and retired Norwegian striker Jan Aage Fjortoft, who has earned a reputation as something of a transfer insider when it comes to German football, Sane will be one of the club's main targets when the transfer window re-opens in January. The player was also linked heavily with Arsenal last summer.
Sane is one of the highly talented young stars on the continent that Liverpool's transfer committee has been said to have long been interested in, and as with the case of Porto's Ruben Neves, the suggestion is that the arrival of Jurgen Klopp will only make it more likely that the club will go hard for promising continental talent.
Whether that's how things will actually play out remains to be seen, and Liverpool have insisted that Klopp will have final say on any and all transfers. It's hard to imagine the German manager having the same obsession with Premier League proven talent that at times seemed a trademark of former boss Brendan Rodgers, though.
Plus, with Lazar Markovic out on loan and Liverpool unlikely to be willing to pay a fee to see it terminated in January, the Reds are clearly in need of some wide reinforcement. Sane would do that, and if Klopp is as bullish on the youngster as the transfer committee reportedly has been, he could be a real possibility.
It may be a long way from rumour to done deal. Given Fjortoft's track record in Germany, though, as well as Sane's status as a highly rated youngster who would address a position of weakness and cost less than a similarly talented English player, it at the very least seems a reasonable, plausible rumour.
I expect Liverpool and Klopp go "big time" for Schalke-striker Leroy Sane #LFC
— Jan Aage Fjortoft (@JanAageFjortoft) November 8, 2015