As their next transfer bargain, Liverpool could sign a £16 million Kylian Mbappé’replica’ who outperforms Neymar.
Liverpool will require another forward in 2023. Jürgen Klopp is reportedly thinking about bringing in a player similar to Kylian Mbappé, who has already outperformed Neymar.
In addition to a midfielder or two, Liverpool could probably use another attacker in 2023, and that need will only grow if they deploy a front four more frequently between now and then, as they did successfully against Rangers in the Champions League earlier this week.
With Roberto Firmino’s contract set to expire at the end of the season, the club will need to find more forwards. Kaide Gordon and one or two other youngsters could provide part of the answer, but a more senior option will also be required.
Jürgen Klopp’s plans will be largely determined by who stays and who leaves the club, but if the Reds require an attacking player, someone in France could be worth a look. According to the Spanish outlet Fichajes, the Reds are interested in Rennes attacker Kamaldeen Sulemana.
“If you haven’t seen Sulemana, think of Kylian Mbappé,” African football writer Gary Al-Smith told the BBC earlier this year.
“He’s not as refined as Kylian Mbappé right now, but let’s take it slowly.” What do we think of Kylian Mbappé? His lightning-fast pace. Kamaldeen has that covered. His unpredictable change of pace or expression. That is also something Kamaldeen possesses. Kamaldeen probably has a few more tricks than Kylian, and he needs to work on turning players inside out.
“He’s raw, which is why Rennes was one of the better options for him.”
Not turning 21 until February and having only joined Rennes last summer, the Ghanaian international, valued at £16 million by Transfermarkt, still needs to improve his overall roundedness, but his strengths are clear: he ranks in the 99th percentile for dribbles completed across Europe’s top five leagues and the 87th percentile for progressive carries.
FBref listed former Barcelona and Chelsea forward Pedro as his most stylistically similar player in 2022, while Federico Chiesa, who was linked with a £70 million move to Liverpool last summer, was second on the list. Neither player is currently ranked in the top ten, which may indicate a shift in style as he progresses, but his underlying numbers remain strong.
Last year, he stole the show in a 2-0 win over PSG, outperforming Neymar and Lionel Messi; by November, he was statistically ahead of Neymar as Ligue 1’s best dribbler in his debut season in France.
Of course, he still has a lot of work to do with his game before comparisons to Mbappé and Neymar are even remotely plausible, but if Liverpool wants him, it will have to be sooner rather than later.
Sulemana will soon join a long list of players priced out of Liverpool’s reach, including Raphinha, who was at Rennes two years ago, left for £17 million, and then moved to Barcelona for £55 million this summer.
Sulemana is an intriguing option for Liverpool to consider, and for the right price, he could be a wise addition to replace the lost Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino in backup positions, albeit with a much lower ceiling than those two.
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