French Football Expert Warns Liverpool Off Rumoured Ligue 1 Targets

Liverpool now have an incredible team to match the incredibleness of the club. Players throughout the world have eyes on our jolly bunch now, and they want to be a part of the success and the camaraderie. Liverpool dominate the football panorama despite the achievements at Manchester City this season, how amazing is that?

So, there are lots and lots of rumoured targets out there being linked to Klopp’s predicted plans for next season. Attackers, but the secondary kind, and a versatile one, too. Lyon’s Memphis Depay has been mentioned in paragraphs alongside Liverpool in recent weeks, as well as Lille’s Nicolas Pepe. But neither player is reported to be close to joining Liverpool and word from head office suggests Pepe is not actually on Klopp’s shortlist this summer.

Still, rumours demand satisfaction. Ligue 1 guru, Rich Allen, addressed Pepe and Depay as potential Liverpool targets and in his view neither player should be seen as future Melwood pranksters.

“Yes Depay has got his career back on track to a degree but he’s still an intensely frustrating player,” said Allen.

”On his day he can be up there with the very best. Some of the skills, movement, passing and finishing he’s got can be marvellous but so often his head disappears or he gets such an inflated ego that he gets frustrated and disappears.

“As for Pepe, he was Lille’s stand-out player this season, and arguably the stand-out player in Ligue 1, but for the money wanted for him, I think it’s a bit of a gamble, as Lille are looking for a fee in the €65-70m region.

“I could see him at a Premier League team, but for that amount of money, you’d be buying him to be a first-team player, which for me would probably rule Liverpool out. It will be difficult for Liverpool to warrant paying €65-70m on a a player who’s going to be second choice behind Salah for example.”

I’m unfamiliar with Depay’s rise in France after his mediocre flash at Manchester United. If he’s been kicking ass in Ligue 1 great, and he may be on the move this summer, but that’s a ‘no’ from me.

And it’s hard to argue with the idea that Nicolas Pepe would be a luxury player in Klopp’s squad. At roughy £60M, Pepe would be a very expensive support player. But, as we can see with Pep Guardiola’s squad, depth is crucial to sustaining momentum throughout the season, and season after season. So, there’s a case for bringing in quality depth that fits the manager’s plans, even at significant cost.

Klopp won’t panic buy or be lured into bad decisions. The plan is the plan and rest assured that Michael Edwards is out there, doing everything he can to execute that plan using only his wits, a carefully curated selection of emojis, and a paperclip.