Liverpool in talks to sign £100m World Cup star

Liverpool have lost a superstar in Mohamed Salah, but don’t forget, it wasn’t too long after Luis Suarez’s crushing sale to Barcelona that the Jurgen Klopp era began.

Klopp came, saw, conquered, replaced by Arne Slot in 2024, who came, saw, conquered, and collapsed across a two-year span.

It would be remiss not to consider the mitigating factors, but Liverpool stumbled so far from the track established under Klopp’s management that Slot’s tenure became untenable, even after delivering a Premier League title in his maiden year.

Now, Andoni Iraola is working with FSG executives Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes to find the new road, and that calls for significant investment in the summer transfer market – again.

Liverpool approached to sign Premier League superstar

FSG decision-makers have accepted that much of Liverpool’s collapse across the 2024/25 season came due to a lack of pace and dynamism out wide. Cody Gakpo was one-dimensional throughout, Salah aged and lacking his one-time vim and vigour.

However, you could equally point toward the midfield as the epicentre of Liverpool’s many problems throughout the year. Alexis Mac Allister and co failed to uphold Slot’s system, and now that Slot is gone, there are murmurings that his Argentinian lieutenant could be sold too.

It goes without saying that if Liverpool shed skin in the middle of the park, they will need to rearmour themselves with talented replacements. With that in mind, Ayyoub Bouaddi could be one to keep an eye on, the Moroccan midfielder, starring aged 18 at the World Cup, also wanted by Arsenal.

He would likely demand a fee somewhere in the region of £60m this summer, with LOSC Lille of the opinion that they have a budding superstar on their hands.

According to TEAMtalk, though, the Merseysiders have been approached by representatives serving Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes, who has also been the subject of a formal offer from Arsenal in the last few days.

Newcastle are determined to retain the services of their star player this summer, even after slumping to a 12th-place Premier League finish last year.

It’s worth noting that the Gunners’ £55m proposal was laughed off by the Magpies, who consider the 28-year-old a £100m player.

Guimaraes is one of the best midfielders in the world, and though he’s not the youngest, would mark a significant improvement in Iraola’s Anfield engine room.

Why Guimaraes is the midfielder Liverpool must go for

Guimaraes has embodied Newcastle’s rise to the top under Eddie Howe over the past four-and-a-half years, but he has perhaps reached the end of his batteries at St. James’ Park.

This is, after all, one of the Premier League’s most talented midfielders, an all-round phenomenon who perfectly mixes strength and physicality with technical skills that are simply beyond the lion’s share of his rivals across Europe.

Bouaddi would be a midfield addition who has the capacity to develop into a mainstay in the middle for Iraola’s Liverpool, but he might not be the best pick given the current Liverpool landscape.

There’s no denying Bouaddi’s brilliance. He has the potential to develop into an elite midfielder, already hailed by analyst Asim Mahmood, who said he is “going to be a superstar“.

But Liverpool need to see sharp improvements from the get-go next season, and Guimaraes would surely enjoy a more emphatic impact, a leader and accomplished Premier League midfielder with a decade’s more experience than his young counterpart.

But he’s not there yet, whereas Guimaraes is accomplished as a “world-class” midfielder for Newcastle and for Brazil, with analyst Raj Chohan hailing him as such after his monstrous midfield display against Scotland for Selecao.

The two players are similar in many ways, elegant and combative, energetic and efficient on the ball. They both boast a wide range of qualities, evidenced by their data throughout the 2024/25 campaign, but Guimaraes is undoubtedly sharper and more refined in his grasp of his abilities.

This one might feel a little far-fetched, but the truth is that Liverpool need to sign a midfielder this summer, and as the Brazilian’s reps seek to drum up interest in their client after Newcastle’s disappointing campaign, it does seem like Anfield presents one of the most suitable locations for him to move to.

Bouaddi’s time will come, but if Liverpool are serious about putting their recent issues to rights, they will act with speed to bring one of the Premier League’s standout stars over to a resurgent Anfield.

Guimaraes and Bouaddi operate in similar tactical parameters, and with that in mind, the question has been answered for FSG, who need to spark an instant turnaround.