Perhaps Sevilla’s Rakitic is the answer?

I wrote a week ago that Basel’s Mohamed Salah was a great option for the Reds during the window in January: young, talented, affordable and likely to be able to come straight in to the team and make an immediate difference. Perhaps even giving us that final bit quality to push for the title.

As the January window begins to loom ever closer, we’re likely to be linked to more and more attacking players (given that that’s what we need!) and you’re very likely to be reading more and more articles like this, espousing the value and football worth of each of these candidates.

Last Tuesday morning though, a very interesting name cropped up in the football press: Ivan Rakitic.

The Sevilla midfielder is a name that’s been around in recent years. He’s one of those players that you’ve heard of, you’ve seen him play and while he seems quite handy, you’re not sure whether a huge splurge on one quite unknown quantity would be such a great idea.

However, if the rumours are true that the Spanish side are in desperate need of cash and that his £33 million release clause will be waived in favour or £7 million then it’s a possibility that we really must look into.

The Swiss-born Croatian midfielder has scored goals and impressed no matter where he’s been and, funnily enough, started his career in European football at Basel much like Salah. Rakitic has, somewhat exaggeratedly, been described as the third best player in Spain this season after notching 7 goals and 6 assists for unfancied Sevilla.

It’s a fairly impressive tally, when you factor in his extra couple in European competition and the fact that he’s playing for a side sitting 20 points off the top.

Perhaps leaning more in Rakitic’s favour than Salah’s is his greater experience and maturity, and he is likely to be able to slip straight into the team without needed too long to settle.

Often used as a creative playmaker, the Croat has a high degree of steel about him, something that is quite rare in such a player and this is likely to mean that the rough and tumble, high intensity nature of the English game would bring out the best in him.

More than likely, the midfielder would be signed as an alternative to Coutinho, able to slide in just behind Sturridge, Suarez or both and act as the main outlet for creating chances.  Although – and this is very much in his favour also – his attitude and style means that he could also be deployed a little further back, even complimenting (and assisting) Lucas in the defensive side of the Liverpool midfield.

In another year, without the prospect of his club going bankrupt, we’d be looking at paying at least £18 million and then some but if he genuinely is available for such a small sum then he’s definitely somebody we’d need to take a look at.

Given that there was money available in the summer for an attacking midfielder and that we had put in a bid of around £25 million for Mkhitaryan, then we should easily be able to sign both Salah and Rakitic for that amount. Maybe even with a bit of spare change!

But given that a top-quality player such as Rakitic is available for such a low price, and there are quality youngsters also out there for such reasonable fees then Liverpool are in a position to have another successful January and if we can introduce even just one of these two to our squad in the next few weeks after Christmas then things would be looking very healthy for the Reds in attack.