Liverpool are pushing to make a series of sweeping changes to Arne Slot’s squad nice and early, thus allowing themselves to kick their feet up and bask in the sun after winning the Premier League.
It’s been a terrific season for the Reds, whose dominance in the top flight established a commanding lead before Christmas, which was held confidently across the latter half of the year.
Only after the Premier League was wrapped up did Liverpool ease their trademark intensity – and by quite a bit at that. Only two points were claimed from a possible 12 to see out the season, with the last taste of victory, a 5-1 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur, securing gold with plenty of room to spare.
Slot has been against heavy rotation for the majority of the campaign, but he has dished out the changes over the past month. However, Darwin Nunez was still limited to cameos, last making a league start on Boxing Day.
The Uruguayan striker is set to leave the club this summer, and rightly so. Everyone wanted it to work out, but he pales in comparison to his predecessors at number nine.
Liverpool's longing for an elite striker
Nunez has the minerals to be a world-class player, but, frankly, he’s failed to bring it all together and must be sold. Such an argument is certainly reinforced when flicking back over some of the contemporary strikers the Merseysiders have been treated to.
Luis Suarez being chief among them, with the Uruguayan, Nunez’s countryman, only surpassed by Mohamed Salah in terms of efficacy and consistency in front of goal at Liverpool, across the past several decades.
However, would it be fair to say Suarez failed to capture the fanbase’s adoration quite to the same level as Fernando Torres in his prime?
It just might. Torres signed as a Liverpool player in 2007, aged 23. The package was worth £20m, and it was widely accepted that Rafael Benitez had scored the Premier League giants a bona fide bargain.
If Liverpool could sign their next version of the Spanish World Cup winner, they may well be laughing all the way toward a successful Premier League title defence.
And they might just be in the race for such a player.
Liverpool moving to sign new Torres
According to Spanish outlet Marca, Liverpool are firmly in the race for Atletico Madrid centre-forward Julian Alvarez, who left Manchester City to play under Diego Simeone in an £82m deal last summer.
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Liverpool have reportedly ‘sounded out a move’, but Arsenal and Barcelona are also interested, with the Gunners understood to have the lead in the race at this stage.
Los Colchoneros don’t want to sell their talisman, of course, but they would entertain offers that exceed what they paid to City one year ago. He supposedly has a £126m release clause, but this might prove a tad steep.
Why Alvarez could be Slot's own Torres
Liverpool would do anything to have a striker in the same vein as Torres back in the mix, and Alvarez truly could be that man.
This season, the “ridiculous” forward – as he’s been called by Statman Dave – has been a revelation for Atletico Madrid, scoring 29 goals and adding six assists across all competitions, including a seven-goal haul from ten matches in the Champions League.
This newfound level of potency marks progress from his days under Pep Guardiola’s wing, perhaps because he has been upgraded to a berth of greater importance.
River Plate
122
54
31
Manchester City
103
36
19
Atletico Madrid
53
29
6
Argentina
44
12
33
Journalist Roy Nemer even made the bold statement that Alvarez has been “the best forward in the world” this season, with his 29-goal return in Simeone’s Atletico team making a convincing comment on his qualities and indeed capacity to reach even higher in another system.
Slot’s system? Just imagine. Alvarez is sharpening his developing prolific sense at the front of Liverpool’s team, backed up by the likes of Salah and Florian Wirtz, with Bayer Leverkusen receiving an official proposal from the Anfield side on Monday.
There’s a real chance that Slot’s creative capacity would know no bounds with such players threading passes in toward a mobile and dynamic focal point such as Alvarez.
As per FBref, the Argentina star ranks among the top 6% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues this season for all of shot-creating actions, passes attempted and progressive carries, as well as the top 8% for progressive passes and the top 12% for successful take-ons made per 90.
A successful take-on is recorded when a player beats their opponent by directly carrying the ball past them while retaining possession.
All told, he’s the “complete player”, as described by Marca editor Matias Wodner. And in a way, this suggests he could become Liverpool’s new version of El Nino, especially given that Liverpool would be reeling him in from Atletico Madrid.
When Torres arrived at Liverpool, his prowess was undeniable, but there was clearly room for improvement. This was perfectly enforced. Before leaving contentiously for Chelsea, the iconic striker scored 81 goals and added 19 assists across just 142 fixtures in a Liverpool shirt.
His pace, sharp movements and lethal finishing led one Steven Gerrard to describe him as the “best striker in the world” back in 2009, with something in the Anfield air eliciting the finest form of the Spain star’s career, vindicated upon a high-profile move to Stamford Bridge which stocked Torres’ trophy cabinet but failed to yield the same prolific results.
If Alvarez were to make the move to Merseyside this summer, though, you could envisage a long-term future in Slot’s squad to be sure.
The 25-year-old has already won the Premier League twice, posting 31 goal involvements across his two campaigns despite only starting 44 matches in total.
He’s the real deal, and with rumours surfacing that Atletico are interested in talking to Liverpool about the potential signing of Nunez, this might be one to keep a close eye on.
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