OPINION
Fenway Sports Group are not exactly keen on signing older players for Liverpool but Jurgen Klopp is hardly a manager they want to be turning down.
It’s understandable that the Reds’ American owners would rather invest their cash in players who will see their transfer value rise at Anfield, which is why Rickie Lambert and Ragnar Klavan are the only 30-plus players Liverpool have paid a transfer fee to sign since they became owners of the Merseyside club in 2010.
The Daily Mail has recently reported that James Milner might not get a new contract at the club with his existing deal set to expire at the end of next season.
The newspaper claims that FSG tend to avoid handing long-term deals to players in their 30s, which would make sense given how Lambert and Klavan are widely seen as Liverpool flops and were offloaded by the club not too long after being signed.
However in this one case, FSG should break the Liverpool mould and let Klopp get what he reportedly wants – Marco Reus.
According to Spanish news outlet Don Balon, Klopp believes that he can get the best out of the Borussia Dortmund forward in English football and has asked Anfield chiefs to let him sign his former player.
Reus has recently turned 30 so is not usually the type of player that FSG would be willing to spend money on, however the Germany international is no doubt a special case as he is one of the elite forwards in European football.
Last season he scored 21 goals and supplied 13 assists in 36 appearances across all competitions for Dortmund, helping them to finish as runners-up in the Bundesliga and reach the knock-out stages of the Champions League.
Reus has spent a lot of his career playing up front or out on the wings but last term saw the German adopt the role as Dortmund’s central attacking midfielder – a role that Liverpool could do with adding some quality to.
Adam Lallana is perhaps Liverpool’s only natural player in that role whereas Xherdan Shaqiri filled that role more than others last term.
Judging by stats from WhoScored, it’s clear that see that Reus would be a major upgrade on the Swiss international, with Dortmund’s talisman averaging more spots at goal averaging more aerial duels won in league appearances.
Reus is one of the most under-rated players outside of the Premier League and just because he is 30-years-old, doesn’t mean that Klopp should not be allowed to sign him.
If anything, the former Borussia Monchengladbach forward has got better with age now that he has got past a stage of his career that saw him hindered by injuries.
Reus is the player who can take Liverpool to the next level and maybe help them win the Premier League title in 2019/20.
