Luis Diaz marked his Liverpool debut by setting up a goal in front of the Kop against Cardiff, so supporters now eagerly wait to see what transfer magic the club can perform in the summer.
Fabio Carvalho obviously looks the most likely candidate to join, having come agonisingly close to signing for the Reds as the recent transfer window drew to a close.
Whether the Fulham attacking midfielder moves to Anfield or not, fans love to dream big and will hope Liverpool sign someone with higher pedigree than the Championship, no matter how good a player Carvalho looks.
For instance, Kylian Mbappe will be continually linked to Liverpool until his future is resolved, but even the most optimistic Kopite will accept it’s a move which is unlikely to occur.
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A slightly more realistic target is Jude Bellingham of Borussia Dortmund, but the England international will not be easy or cheap to acquire either.
FSG’s transfer policy has been successfully built upon identifying first choice targets and doing their upmost to secure them. The eventual signing of Virgil van Dijk entirely validated this approach.
It may not be only the transfer brains at Anfield who want Bellingham either, with Diogo Jota having recently joked that he wants the England international to sign so he can go into his FIFA team.
And though it has been claimed Dortmund are “worried about Liverpool” poaching the 18-year-old from them, the reality is that the fee they will be looking for may leave the Reds needing to look elsewhere.
Fortunately for them, a very similar player – at least in the eyes of Statsbomb’s data – might be available and it has been reported that Liverpool are willing to pay his £42m release clause too.
Spanish outlet Nacional have claimed Barcelona have offered teenage midfielder Gavi a new contract to ward off interest from the Reds, who are willing to pay him more than his current side.
Top of his list of the 10 players to whom he is most alike statistically is Bellingham, so this looks like one instance where pursuing a second choice transfer option needn’t be a negative for Liverpool.
And though it can be easy to hype young prospects, when Spanish football expert Graham Hunter wrote for ESPN that Gavi “immediately evokes both Xavi and Iniesta” within a month of his first team debut, it's natural to be excited about the player.
As you would expect of anybody who comes through Barca’s famed La Masia youth academy, Gavi possesses excellent passing skills.
While the sample sizes are small for completing through balls, he’s currently joint-seventh in Europe’s big five leagues for these defence-splitting passes, alongside Lionel Messi among others (per FBRef).
This is an area Liverpool are looking to exploit a little more often this season too, with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s forays in from the flank enabling them to assist five league goals (the joint second-most in the division) via this method.
Gavi is also very capable of bringing the ball forward, as he is among the top nine percent of big league midfielders for progressive carries (those which move the ball towards the opponent's goal at least five yards, or into their box).
He has averaged 7.24 per 90 minutes in La Liga this season, which for context puts him within no more than 1.3 of Naby Keita, Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and while only being 17 years old too.
Bear in mind that no other player of his age has had more than 363 minutes playing time in the English, French, German, Italian or Spanish leagues this season, while Gavi has had 1,215. He’s a serious talent.
The Spanish international also looks to have the defensive side of the game well in hand too, with his average of 22.6 pressures per 90 in league and Europe ahead of what any Liverpool player with at least as many minutes has managed in 2021/22.
Barcelona understandably won’t want a player who could form part of their midfield for well over a decade to leave.
Their financial issues are such that they have to listen to offers for any player though, and with Gavi having a relatively low release clause for a player so talented, it would benefit Liverpool to consider making a move.
