Liverpool are going to see a lot of change in the months to come. Michael Edwards has returned as FSG’s new CEO of Football, with Richard Hughes in tow as Anfield’s new sporting director, but that is only the tip of the iceberg.
Jurgen Klopp, revered, adored, is leaving the club after over eight years of service, bringing the eminence back to the red half of Merseyside and winning major honours such as the Champions League and Premier League; the latter could yet be gleaned for a second time before the current campaign is over.
The future is painted in obscurity but Klopp is leaving Liverpool in a fantastic position, having replenished the first-team ranks and built up the academy to churn out teenage talent at a prodigious rate.
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Of course, replacing an iconic and irreplaceable manager might seem an impossible task, but there is cause for optimism heading into the unknown, with the rotating of the cogs behind the scenes paving a new road. Expect one or two exciting player acquisitions.
Liverpool's summer transfer targets
According to football correspondent Artur Petrosyan, Liverpool are showing “keen interest” in signing creative midfielder Heorhiy Sudakov from Shakhtar Donetsk, with Juventus and Arsenal also hot on the trail of the 21-year-old.
Considered one of Ukraine’s brightest talents, Sudakov was the subject of a failed €40m (£34m) offer from Serie A champions Napoli in January, and while Liverpool will be tentative to overpay for a relatively untested commodity, Reds scouts have been dazzled by his qualities over the past year.
Who Liverpool welcome to the dugout may well determine whether intrigue becomes something more in the months to come, but the interest is long-standing and he could be shaped into a world-class talent down the line. That £128m release clause may well be problematic, however.
Heorhiy Sudakov's style of play
Sudakov is young but he has already cultivated a weight of expectation after some stellar showings in his homeland. He operates in midfield pockets but bends and contorts opposition lines and wreaks havoc with a multi-functioning, many-faceted attacking tool kit.
This season, the dynamic midfielder has scored five goals and created two assists for his teammates across all competitions, including scoring a fine strike against Barcelona in the Champions League.
In the Ukrainian Premier League this term, he’s been spellbinding. Breathtaking. If midfield creativity was an art, he’d be Picasso. As per Sofascore, he has posted three goals and one assist from 14 matches, but this is not a skill set constrained by goals, by assists. No. This is a player of elite calibre, recognised for the glittering diamond within, entombed in rock.
His 87% passing accuracy denotes his crisp and composed distribution, his 1.5 key passes per game highlight a flow of supplementation for the forwards.
Moreover, Sudakov averages four ball recoveries, 6.7 successful duels and 3.1 successful dribbles per game, the latter coming in at a staggering 80% success rate.
Liverpool is the perfect club to nurture his talents to the fore, currently guiding a rich crop of midfield players and an exciting wave of academy potential.
As per FBref, based on Champions League performance only, Sudakov ranks among the top 21% of midfielders for shot-creating actions and the top 18% for progressive carries per 90, showcasing his energetic and creative quality against the continent’s best.
He’s not the most combative of players, but then that’s not his role. Harvey Elliott is not the most combative of midfielders either but that does not negate the 20-year-old’s pedigree as a high-class prospect.
Sudakov is two-footed but tends to roam toward the left attacking side, infrequently deployed as a left winger. While there is little doubt that his attributes shine brightest when playing centrally, pushing and prodding toward the final third, Edwards could find that he repeats his brilliant Mohamed Salah acquisition by snapping up this talented player.
Why Edwards could repeat Mohamed Salah deal
To be clear: Sudakov is not cut from the same cloth as Salah. They are actually positionally opposed, but there’s no doubt that there are similarities and Sudakov could be a signing to lift Liverpool in the early phase of a new era, much like Salah did way back when.
Liverpool, with Edwards as the sporting director, signed Salah from Roma for £34m back in 2017 in the early years of Klopp’s reign, with the transfer raising a few eyebrows within the Premier League after the Egyptian failed to succeed at Chelsea.
He’s long put any such doubts to bed, having scored 207 goals and added 89 assists for Liverpool over 337 fixtures, instrumental in the silver-laden success of many campaigns.
As per FBref, he ranks among the top 2% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for goals scored and touches in the attacking penalty area, the top 1% for assists and the top 20% for progressive passes per 90.
Alan Shearer
260
0.59
Harry Kane
213
0.67
Wayne Rooney
208
0.42
Andy Cole
187
0.45
Sergio Aguero
184
0.67
Frank Lampard
177
0.29
Thierry Henry
175
0.68
Robbie Fowler
164
0.43
Jermain Defoe
162
0.33
Mohamed Salah
154
0.61
He is also endowed with elite athleticism and holds a mastery of the ambit of facets needed to succeed as a high-class winger.
He was purchased in the fledgling phase of his brilliance and so too could Sudakov be welcomed to Anfield with the raw attributes needed for a great career in the Premier League.
Sudakov is also, as mentioned, more than capable on the wing, with his relentless dribbles, fierce striking ability and expert creativity bearing semblance to Salah when he burst onto the scene, the 31-year-old averaging 2.2 key passes and dribbles apiece during his historic 2017/18 Premier League campaign, as per WhoScored.
Liverpool must take a punt on Sudakov; while there’s work to do until he’s operating at top level, he could be the club’s next “sensation” – as he has been called by talent scout Jacek Kulig – succeeding Salah.