Crystal Palace are reportedly demanding £70m for the services of midfielder Cheick Doucoure this summer, amid rumoured interest from Liverpool.
It continues to be a dramatic summer in the Reds’ midfield, with massive changes afoot when it comes to both new signings and high-profile exits.
Liverpool enjoyed a strong start to the summer transfer window, bringing in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai from Brighton and RB Leipzig respectively, but recently, outgoings have dominated the headlines.
Both Fabinho and Jordan Henderson are on the verge of moves to Saudi Arabia, with the latter set to join up with Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq.
It highlights the need for more new signings to arrive at Anfield this summer and Doucoure has emerged as a potential target for Jurgen Klopp.
According to The Daily Mail, Palace want as much as £70m for the 23-year-old’s signature before the new Premier League season gets underway:
“Crystal Palace will place a minimum £70million valuation on key midfielder Cheick Doucoure, who is emerging as a target for Liverpool.”
Our thoughts on the latest Doucoure to Liverpool situation…
The importance of Liverpool strengthening their midfield options cannot be stressed enough, and Doucoure could be a fantastic player to bring in.
He averaged 2.3 tackles per game in the Premier League season – no player averaged more for Palace – and he also completed 83.6% of his passes, which is a good figure for a team in the bottom half of the table.
That being said, £70m for Doucoure does feel too steep at this point in his career, considering he remains relatively unproven at the top level, so Liverpool should look elsewhere if Palace don’t lower their valuation of him.
The hope is that the Eagles realise that the 12-cap Mali international player wants to join the Reds and that they end up accepting a lower offer, allowing him to come in as Fabinho’s replacement in the No.6 role.
Another midfield will also be needed, though, considering Henderson is also departing – the departures of James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have further weakened Liverpool’s squad depth, too – and a failure to do so could be hugely problematic.
