Liverpool Pursuit of Mahmoud Dahoud Ends in Failure

With Borussia Monchengladbach signalling they are unwilling to sell and the player signalling he’s happy to remain at the club for at least one more season, it appears Liverpool’s pursuit of midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud has reached its end.

For many Liverpool fans, Dahoud had been the most exciting of the midfield targets legitimately connected to the club this summer. According to the Gaurdian, though, Monchengladbach have dismissed a £25M offer out of hand and told the player he will not be moving under any circumstance.

The player, for his part, appears content to stay. He is, after all, only 20 years old. His current contract also runs through the summer of 2018. With just two years left he will know that he will be have a strong position next summer when it comes to either signing a new deal or pushing for a move.

Monchengladbach will know this, too, and even if Dahoud continues to improve, there’s a chance they could get more for him this year with two seasons to run on his contract than a year from now. Still, while he’s at the club there remains hope that he might sign a new deal.

There is also a resistance to selling Dahoud in the same summer as they let Granit Xhaka head to Arsenal lest it leave them looking like a selling club with no aspirations to compete. For Liverpool, now, the question is whether Jürgen Klopp looks to another potential midfield target.

If there is a Plan B to Dahoud—and that won’t be Piotr Zielinski, who has always been considered a target in along with Dahoud rather than it being a case of one or the other—it should become clear within the next few days. If there isn’t, it could result in a push to retain Joe Allen.