Rumour Mongering: Liverpool Want Betis Winger Luiz Henrique

Most of the transfer chatter around Liverpool this summer has focused on midfield, where the full rebuild of an aging core was necessary and has seen Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai arrive.

A third midfield signing is possible but may depend on outgoings—or at least in the right target being available for the right price—and the Reds continue to explore their defensive reinforcement options.

In Spain, though, Fichajes has Liverpool pushing to make a rather different type of signing: 22-year-old Real Betis winger Luiz Henrique, who until now had most seriously been linked with a move to Aston Vila.

Henrique, the paper admits, took time to adjust to European football, scoring three in 40 games. The underlying numbers, though, suggest he’s still some way off being a legitimate target for a top club.

That he’s a genuinely poor creative player might not entirely rule him out as a Liverpool target were he a stellar finisher, but even there he’s somewhere between mediocre and passable on the evidence.

Perhaps, then, if Villa’s interest is legitimate, this is simply Betis looking to use Liverpool to push them to raise—or simply make, if they’re only currently considering their options—a bid for the Brazilian.