Arne Slot will surely be under more intense pressure in the Liverpool hot seat if he cannot turn around his side’s disastrous Premier League form after the international break concludes.
Last season, the Merseyside giants romped home to the title, with a bumper 25 wins secured, having also only lost a meagre four games all campaign long.
Now, however, it’s a grim five defeats on the menu from 11 outings, with former Reds attacker Peter Crouch even stating that there must be “some serious question marks” as to whether the ex-Feyenoord boss should remain in the Anfield post for the long term, if the losses continue to stack up.
He does have the January transfer window on his side to try and arrest this slide, though, as Liverpool prepares to splash the big bucks again…
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The disappointing Reds are now eight points adrift of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, which has led many pundits to state that the reigning champions are in a crisis at the moment.
Still, uprooting to Anfield will be seen as an attractive next career step for many promising talents around the world.
One target includes AZ Alkmaar star Kees Smit, as rumours persist that the £22.5m-rated midfielder is on their agenda.
Alongside Smit, Liverpool are also reportedly still keen on adding Marc Guehi to their ranks in January, after a failed summer move, as Crystal Palace brace for Liverpool to reignite a deal, despite their current bruised status.
Palace are not the only Premier League club that could be on the receiving end of Liverpool attempting to spend big to turn around their dismal fortunes, however, with TEAMtalk revealing – via their sources – that Slot’s men are favourites to land AFC Bournemouth superstar Antoine Semenyo, despite intense interest also popping up from Tottenham Hotspur.
The report goes on to state that a £65m release clause will be activated when the window opens, which has alerted both Liverpool and Thomas Frank’s outfit, with the Reds ready to meet that price to win themselves an explosive, Premier League-proven forward.
Liverpool desperately need some deadly firepower, having been burnt by deals for Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak in the summer, as Slot and Co’s excessive spending – £415m to be exact – looks very rash.
Semenyo could well offer up some much-needed entertainment; therefore, with the Ghanaian also going down as Slot’s new Luis Diaz if a deal is secured, who was a departure in the summer, now overloaded with regret.
How Semenyo compares to Diaz
Diaz leaving Liverpool has certainly hurt the Reds more than they might have initially anticipated.
Of course, the lavish spending in the summer with Isak and Wirtz coming through the door was meant to see in the start of a new-look Liverpool attack, with Diaz discarded to Bayern Munich in the process.
Unfortunately, with the aforementioned pair regularly fluffing their lines and the revitalised Colombian already sitting pretty on 11 goals and five assists from 17 games in Bavaria, it does feel as if Liverpool have dropped a clanger getting rid of an attacker once branded as “unpredictable” and hard to contain at his Premier League best by ex-Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman.
Diaz blew hot and cold on English shores, hence his exit and Seaman’s unpredictable assessment, as 29 Premier League goals fell into his lap at Anfield. Semenyo is only three short of that amount right now for the Cherries, as another gung-ho, direct talent emerges that can wreak havoc at the peak of his powers.
Liverpool saw first-hand how blistering their £65m target can be at full pelt right at the start of the season when powering home that high-energy equaliser, with his Cherries teammate in Marcus Tavernier stating that he is “unplayable” when operating at his devastating best.
Thankfully, the goals and assists have followed in abundance, away from just simply bombing forward with pace to burn, with six goals and three assists in Premier League action alone this campaign, even resulting in Chris Waddle’s claiming that he’s currently “the best winger in the country.”
RW
38
12 + 3
LW
26
5 + 3
RM
10
5 + 0
LM
8
3 + 4
CF
4
1 + 0
The similarities don’t just stop with their comparable styles, though, with both attacking stars in question also capable of being adaptable and malleable when needed, as seen in Semenyo swapping between left wing and right wing duties regularly for Andoni Iraola’s men.
Diaz would also happily oblige in this regard at Anfield, with eight goals even coming his way from a centre-forward spot for his ex-employers.
Semenyo will, further, hope he can replicate Diaz’s career at Anfield even more closely in lifting a Premier League title down the line, past the current slump in form.
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