Liverpool Linked with Gifted French Fullback

With Jordon Ibe moving to Bournemouth in a £15m deal last week, and Jordan Rossiter joining Rangers back in May, a gaping hole has opened up in the Liverpool squad; the Jordan ratio is getting woefully low. With Alberto Moreno struggling to display the kinds of improvements fans were hoping for when the Spaniard signed back in 2014, and Brad Smith not showing much to suggest he'll ever be more than a mid-table player, the Reds have been heavily linked with a long line of left-backs this summer. Could any one man fill both holes?

Apparently so, as one of those left-backs - in a move first touted as a good idea on this very site - was Jordan Amavi. While reporters with ties to the club dismissed those reports after a week or so, they have now resurfaced, as the Frenchman has resumed regular training with Aston Villa and is expected to return to match action in a week's time.

According to Le Parisien, Amavi has been on the club's radar since before his move to Villa, and the club are rumoured to have held talks with his agent already. No price has been quoted yet, but with four years left on his contract and the player having moved for €11m only last summer, as well as the TV money reality of the 2016 transfer window, anything under £15m seems unlikely.

A revelation before his season-ending knee injury - suffered on international duty, naturally - Amavi stacked up three assists in less than 1000 minutes for the Villans, all from spectacular crosses. He completed more dribbles than any other fullback in the league and was similarly at the top of the charts in terms of tackles and interceptions. The fact that those numbers matched the ones he put up in League 1 indicates that there is nothing fluky about the level of his performances. At 22, he is two years younger than Moreno and the same age as Smith, which suggests that further improvements can be expected.

The only real pause given to this transfer is whether the young Frenchman is able to recover from a devastating injury and return to form. If he can, this is absolutely a transfer the club should look to complete.