OPINION
Liverpool are a team that don’t need many adjustments to their starting line up, however, it is always a good idea to improve your strength in depth.
Jurgen Klopp parted ways with striker Dominic Solanke earlier this month, meaning that the Reds could use another attacker to supplement their options in the final third.
Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, to see Klopp’s side linked with a move for Celtic winger James Forrest on Sunday. The Scottish Sun claims that the Liverpool boss has been tracking the Hoops star for some time, and is weighing up a summer swoop for the Scotland international.
The newspaper’s report states that Brendan Rodgers’ side would demand at least £8million for the 27-year-old. However, if Liverpool think they’ll be able to snare Forrest for that measly fee they have another thing coming.
Celtic have become used to coughing up their finest talents to other European leagues. Virgil van Dijk, Victor Wanyama and Moussa Dembele have all departed for higher wages and a superior quality of football in recent years.
Having said that, Forrest could be the most complete of any of those players at the time they left Parkhead. Van Dijk and Wanyama still needed some South Coast seasoning at that point, while Dembele remains a raw youngster.
Forrest, on the other hand, is a veteran player who has been contributing at a high level for Celtic and Scotland for several years now. He is ready to play for a top Premier League team, there’s no doubt about that.
So for Liverpool to expect to get him for less than Celtic received for any of the aforementioned players is absolute folly. If Klopp truly believes that then he needs a reality check.
Forrest would be a very smart addition for the Reds. He has the electric pace that would see him excel in Klopp’s high intensity style of football, while his end product has come on leaps and bounds this campaign.
He wouldn’t be a starter ahead of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino or Sadio Mane, but he would be a solid alternative for when those players aren’t fully firing.
So while Forrest would be a nice signing for Liverpool, they need to accept that they’d have to bid a lot more than £8million to secure his signature.
