OPINION
Liverpool fans will surely be drooling over a report which claims that the Merseyside club is in the hunt to sign Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe this summer.
According to the Mirror newspaper, the 20-year-old has emerged as a target for the Reds in the last few weeks amid uncertainty that surrounds his future with the Ligue 1 champions.
Interestingly, Mbappe may have been dropping hints about his future too as he was spotted alongside Liverpool fan and shareholder LeBron James in a recent visit to Los Angeles and offered praise to Reds manager Jurgen Klopp.
It may well be a coincidence, but Liverpool are now reportedly interested in signing the 2018 World Cup winner this summer and that is surely news that every supporter of the Merseyside club wants to hear.
While Liverpool have an amazing front-three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, it would be fair to say that Mbappe could get into Klopp’s starting line-up over any of them.
The former Monaco star scored 39 goals and supplied 17 assists in 43 appearances across all competitions as PSG won the French league title with ease.
Mbappe also has already received a huge amount of awards in his short career having won the Ligue 1 young player of the year three times, the 2017 Golden Boy award, the 2018 World Cup young player of the tournament and last season’s golden boot in Ligue 1.
Who would Mbappe replace in the Liverpool front three though?
He can play on either wing, but last season saw the 20-year-old play more as a centre-forward, in a similar role to what Roberto Firmino plays at Anfield.
According to stats by WhoScored, Mbappe averaged 4.3 shots at goal, 1.6 key passes and 2.2 successful dribbles per Ligue 1 appearance. In comparison, Firmino averaged 2.2 shots at goal, 1.3 key passes – despite having a better overall pass completion rate – and 1.4 dribbles in his Premier League outings.
Mbappe would be a major upgrade on Firmino but there is no doubt that he would come at a great cost as he is arguably among the top-five players in world football at the moment.
And just to re-iterate, Mbappe is only 20-years-old.
In a few years’ time, he could be as a good as, if not better than, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
