Idrissa Doumbia’s impressive performance for Sporting CP in a pre-season friendly against Liverpool has led to the European champions to become interested in him, according to Record.
The Portuguese newspaper claims that the Reds are in hot pursuit of the 21-year-old, but view him as a potential signing for the future rather than this summer as Jurgen Klopp is already satisfied with his defensive midfield options.
Record claims that Liverpool are now set to keep close watch over Doumbia and it is understood that they contacted Sporting after the 2-2 draw at Yankee Stadium this week to ask questions about the Ivorian midfielder.
Sporting signed Doumbia from Akhmat Grozny in January after he agreed a deal which has a release clause worth £53.8million.
OPINION
Doumbia looks like a good young defensive midfielder and Liverpool cannot be blamed for asking questions about the Ivorian after he impressed against them in a pre-season friendly earlier this week. However Liverpool might face a struggle to sign him any time soon due to that monster release clause and the fact that Sporting only signed him from Russian side Akhmat at the start of this year. Doumbia settled down well at Sporting after joining them in the winter. He made 14 appearances across all competitions and played a role in the Portuguese Cup final win against Porto in May. According to stats by WhoScored, Doumbia completed 93.4 per cent of his passes in the league for Sporting and averaged 1.0 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per appearance. He certainly seems like a good young prospect that the Reds should keep an eye on over the course of the next season.
