The Crystal Palace midfielder may be the ideal partner for the Argentine.
Liverpool are not holding back in their pursuit of prominence after falling flat last season and failing to qualify for the Champions League, and they may want to sign Crystal Palace’s Cheick Doucoure as part of their summer rebuild.
After James Milner, Naby Keita, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s contracts expired, Alexis MacAllister and Dominick Szoboszlai were both signed, while Jordan Henderson and Fabinho are also attempting to finalise moves to the Saudi Pro League.
The loss of Fabinho, in particular, would leave a gap in the midfield, and Doucoure would be a worthy replacement following an outstanding first season in English football, which saw the Mali international win the Eagles’ Player of the Season award.
Are Liverpool interested in Cheick Doucoure?
According to writer Graeme Bailey, who spoke on the Talking Transfers podcast last week, the 23-year-old is a player that the Anfield executives ‘love’ after his excellent Premier League performances.
“Palace don’t need to sell, and he’s an important player for them,” he remarked. He’s a tremendous feature in the [Liverpool] analytics department, according to what I’ve heard. “They adore him.”
According to the Daily Mail, Palace have placed a £70m valuation on one of their most prized assets, and while this is definitely a spectacular sum, if Liverpool want the crème de la crème, they should come to south London.
How good is Cheick Doucoure?
After a year of thwarted ambition, Jurgen Klopp’s Reds will be looking to reclaim their place at the top of English football and compete for the league title, rather than scrambling – unsuccessfully – for a spot in the top four.
One of the primary reasons for Anfield’s seasonal collapse was the midfield’s failure to properly defend the backline, and despite all of the effort done on the transfer front to address this issue thus far, a top-class pivot is still required to bind the centre together with steel thread.
Doucoure, praised by one journalist as a star capable of “destroying everyone” in his path, ranks among the top 3% of midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues for interceptions, the top 19% for blocks, and the top 18% for clearances per 90 in the past year, according to FBref.
Doucoure, a veritable midfield machine, would be responsible for sweeping up danger and creating promising forward transitions, which may bring out the best in Mac Allister, who is raring to go after his £35 million arrival from Brighton & Hove Albion.
The 24-year-old “golden boy,” as content creator Ryan Adsett refers to him, was incredible last season, recording an average Sofascore rating of 7.21 in the English top-flight while scoring ten goals from 31 starts, averaging 2.5 shots and two tackles per game, and winning 67% of his dribbles and 57% of his ground duels.
Truly an all-around marvel with the ability to rekindle the fire that has been absent in Liverpool’s belly, he cannot effectively ply his trade with a huge void in the defensive midfield behind him.
Moises Caicedo, who has been linked with a £100 million move to Chelsea, kept the prospering Seagulls ship afloat last season, prompting manager Roberto De Zerbi to declare that he might “become one of the best midfielders in the Premier League and in Europe.”
Doucoure has the potential to replicate the influence the Ecuadorian had on Mac Allister, and Klopp must consider his options carefully in order to complete his summer resurgence and establish a new path to success.
