Liverpool are reportedly interested in a midfielder, who is following in the footsteps of ‘Yaya Toure,’ is Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure.
With Fabinho looking likely to depart Liverpool, the club’s search for a midfielder has now widened. The Brazilian may not have enjoyed his best campaign for the Reds last season. However, his experience and his ability will still leave a major void to be filled at Anfield.
All eyes are on Liverpool now as Klopp and Schmadtke are looking to sign a replacement for the Brazilian. The Reds are looking to sign someone more experienced than their target, Romeo Lavia.
The Anfield club aren’t looking to have a long-term project for the club and are looking to sign someone who could get into the starting XI straight away.
This could be a perfect scenario for the Reds to target Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure.
Cheick Doucoure: A new name in the Liverpool Wishlist
The 23-year-old midfielder doesn’t have a huge amount of experience than Lavia in the PL.
However, he has the advantage of having played in the top-5 league in France for many seasons, before joining the Eagles last season.
Moreover, the fact that he was voted the Player of the Season at Palace last season is big enough to make him a serious candidate.
However, the Malian international was the best performer when it comes winning his defensive duels.
Doucouré averaged 6.28 defensive duels per 90 minutes last season. Also, he won 67.48 percent of them ranking him as the number one U23 midfielder in the metric as per Wyscout.
This might be the most exciting stat when it comes to comparing Doucoure with the rest of the U23 PL midfielders.
He also averaged the most successful defensive actions per 90 minutes (10.79) among U23 midfielders. And he was ranked second for possession-adjusted interceptions per 90 (6.47).
Undoubtedly, this makes him the best U23 midfielder in the league when it comes to defensive metrics.
Doucoure is exactly the kind of profile Liverpool needs to replace Fabinho this summer.
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