Liverpool are reported to be showing interest in Porto star Otavio, but will ‘face competition’ from a host of other Premier League rivals.
What’s the story?
According to Portuguese source A Bola, the Reds, alongside Manchester United and Newcastle, have all got the 27-year-old ‘referenced’ as someone they would like to sign in the summer.
It’s claimed that the four-time international’s characteristics ‘please the suitors’, but won’t come at a cheap cost as any club looking to seal a deal will have to pay his £50m buyout clause.
An unstoppable duo
The £32k-per-week star is versatile and can play anywhere across the front-line, not to mention the fact that he is a prolific individual, having already provided 15 goal contributions in just 25 outings so far this season, as per Transfermarkt, making him an attractive prospect to top-level clubs.
Should Liverpool decide to make the move for Otavio, they might well have a good chance at being the team who lands him, considering that they would have already built strong connections with Porto when they signed Luis Diaz from there back in January.
Diaz and Otavio are actually former teammates and played together for a long time in the Primeira Liga, making a staggering 101 appearances alongside each other and winning a total of 73 of those games, proving that they can be a formidable duo when on the pitch at the same time.
The Colombian hit the ground running when he first arrived at Anfield and there’s reason to believe that the £25m-rated ace could do the same, with Otavio currently averaging an overall rating of 7.48, making him the second-highest ranked player in the Porto squad this season.
Such form has seen him lauded as “phenomenal” by scout and journalist Alex Goncalves.
The Reds’ scouts will have no doubt noticed the forward whilst they were out watching Diaz and so with all the recent speculation surrounding him, Liverpool fans might be starting to get excited about the prospect of the 5 foot 6 star, but there might not be anyone more happy on Merseyside than Diaz himself.
In other news, a Liverpool veteran has been linked with a summer move away from Anfield. Read more here.
