Rumour Mongering: Reds Chasing Japanese Wideman

The January transfer window is, as ever, coming down the wire, with rumours swirling until the very last possible second — after which, of course, rumours surrounding the summer transfer window will take over — and despite having glaring holes in central midfielder and having already signed a wide attacker this month, Liverpool are again linked with a left-sided inside forward.

Kaoru Mitoma terrorised the Reds backline at Brighton at the weekend — as he has many others in his limited minutes this season — racking up seven successful dribbles before scoring the injury time game winner in spectacular fashion, and rumours surrounding his future and how it may lie at Anfield, where the manager has shown a certain predilection towards signing players that have impressed against him — began circulating before the final whistle had even blown.

Mitoma will be staying at Brighton until at least the end of the season, but in the late hours of the transfer window, Mike McGrath reported that the Reds have had scouts monitoring another Japanese attacker recently, LASK’s Keito Nakamura.

The 22-year old has bounced around the European secondary leagues since coming to the continent as an 18-year old, featuring in Holland, Belgium and Austria along the way, and has been lighting up the Austrian Bundesliga this season, scoring eight and assisting three goals in 15 appearances for the third-place side.

Exceptionally two-footed, the 5’11 winger combines quick feet on the ball with incisive movement into dangerous areas off it to cause havoc among opposition defenders, and leads the league in attacking involvements, shots and successful dribbles. He’s also top of LASK’s expected goals and expected assists charts, and no player in the league has contributed more shot-creating carries.

Exactly why the Reds would be looking at picking up yet another left-sided inside forward is extremely unclear, given the propensity of options Jürgen Klopp has at the position, but the fact that Brighton are reportedly also scouting the attacker should perhaps indicate that he’s worth going after.

Also terrific cheekbones and eyebrows.