Liverpool

Liverpool

Premier League • England

Jurgen Klopp wants his own Erling Haaland as Liverpool move into pole position for Dortmund attacker

Youssoufa Moukoko and Karim Adeyemi

Jurgen Klopp seemingly wants Liverpool to copy Manchester City by raiding Borussia Dortmund for their own star attacker, with the Reds now the best-placed club for a transfer.

City matched Haaland’s £51million release clause earlier this year to sign the striker from Dortmund. This saw Pep Guardiola’s side win the race for Haaland, following interest from Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid, among other teams.

The move has turned out to be a masterstroke so far. Haaland has broken plenty of records by bagging 22 goals in just 15 games for City. This includes a brace in City’s 3-1 victory over Brighton on Saturday.

Haaland is tearing up the league and is on course to break the scoring record for a 38-match season. The record is currently the 32 goals Mo Salah managed for Liverpool in the 2017/18 campaign.

Harry Kane has had a great start for Tottenham, bagging 10 goals in 12 outings. However, he is already seven strikes behind Haaland and will probably need to have the season of his life to beat the Norwegian to the Premier League’s Golden Boot award.

Liverpool have three centre-forwards in their squad currently. They are Darwin Nunez, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota.

Liverpool spent an initial £64m to land Nunez from Benfica. He has managed five goals in 12 games and is starting to impress under Klopp.

However, the new arrival is still far from being the finished product, something which cannot be said of Haaland.

At times, Klopp has reverted to using trusted attacker Firmino. And this decision has paid off, with Firmino Liverpool’s second top scorer after Salah this term.

Liverpool could copy Erling Haaland signing

Seeing Haaland’s incredible exploits at City will have Klopp wondering what might have been, if his side had the funds of their English rivals.

According to recent reports, the manager wants a Haaland of his own to arrive at Anfield. On Saturday, Football Insider put Liverpool in the frame for Dortmund starlet Youssoufa Moukoko.

The striker is only 17 years old but has already made 53 senior appearances for Dortmund, scoring nine times.

Moukoko is behind Haaland when it comes to finding the net at senior level. However, he has been unbelievable for Dortmund’s youth teams.

Moukoko registered 90 goals in 56 games for Dortmund U17s, before moving up to their U19s. This was a step up but the teenager adapted brilliantly. He notched 47 goals in just 25 matches.

Clearly, the Cameroon-born Germany youth international knows where the back of the net is. And he is set for an incredibly bright future.

Football Insider put Liverpool on Moukoko’s trail alongside other Prem clubs, plus Barcelona, PSG and Real Madrid. talkSPORT provide an update on the transfer rumours, while citing Spanish newspaper Sport.

Liverpool the best-placed club to capture teenage forward

They claim Klopp’s side are at the front of the queue to sign Moukoko. This means his other suitors, which are all illustrious clubs, look set to lose out.

Perhaps Klopp’s relationship with Dortmund has something to do with it. He transformed BVB during his time there, helping them to win two Bundesliga titles and one German cup.

Dortmund will be happier to negotiate with Klopp and Dortmund than the likes of PSG or Real.

Another factor to consider is Klopp’s history with developing young players. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harvey Elliott have improved massively during his time on Merseyside.

Maybe Moukoko believes the 55-year-old would be the best manager to work with and develop his career.

Of course, there is the possibility that Moukoko could move to Liverpool along with a Dortmund team-mate. The Reds are huge admirers of Jude Bellingham and hope to sign him next summer.

The midfielder could cost as much as £131m though, and is also being tracked by Chelsea and Manchester United.

Meanwhile, Paul Scholes thinks there is ‘something not quite right’ between Klopp and a Liverpool stalwart.