River Plate Star Wants England Move, Plays as Liverpool on FIFA

Liverpool find themselves linked heavily this week with River Plate’s young striker Lucas Alario, and for once it isn’t the work of agents or tabloid rumour mongers stoking the fires. This time around, it’s the player himself driving speculation.

"Yes, I do have a shirt from them," admitted the 23-year-old, right-footed striker when he was asked about a rumoured fondness for Liverpool this week by Spanish newspaper Marca. "I do career mode with them [in FIFA] and I really like the colour red, I’ll admit."

In the past, Alario has also noted that while the Spanish giants hold a special appeal as they would for any South American player, his hope is to one day play in the Premier League, where he thinks the intensity and physicality would help him to improve as a player.

The striker, who says he models his game after Luis Suarez and Karim Benzema, has nine goals and two assists in 20 games so far for River Plate in the 2016 season. However, despite growing speculation about his future, Alario is trying to stay focused on the present.

"I don’t like thinking about the future and to not live in the present," added the striker when asked about rumours linking him with a move to Europe. "That would divert me from my goals that for now are focused on this club, so my agent handles that whole situation."

Whether Liverpool are interested in bringing the Argentine to England is an open question, but given everything, it seems inevitable Liverpool will continue to be linked with Alario for at least the next few months, so fans might as well start to get to know him as a player.