HARVARD, USA - Friday, July 25, 2014: Liverpool's manager Brendan Rodgers during a preseason training session at the Harvard Stadium in Boston on day five of the club's USA Tour. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

5 forwards Liverpool could sign instead of Loic Remy

After Loic Remy’s proposed move to Liverpool disappointingly collapsed, Ben Twelves looks at alternatives Brendan Rodgers could look to sign. 

HARVARD, USA - Friday, July 25, 2014: Liverpool's manager Brendan Rodgers during a preseason training session at the Harvard Stadium in Boston on day five of the club's USA Tour. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

With Remy’s transfer falling through, quality striking options at Anfield remain in short supply and another forward player to share the burden of goal-scoring with Daniel Sturridge is now a priority for Rodgers.

The Frenchman would have been a good fit at Anfield and would have represented a fantastic signing for the money at what would have been a bargain sum of £8.5million. But with the transfer unfortunately dead in the water, Rodgers will now turn his attentions to other targets.

Previous players that Liverpool have been linked with include Swansea’s Wilfried Bony and reported Tottenham-bound Jay Rodriguez and while we know that Sturridge will continue his prolific scoring-rate for the club, what we’re yet to find out is who Rodgers will look to for another quality option.

Here five possible candidates for the Liverpool boss.

Jackson Martinez

The Colombian striker has proven throughout his career that he knows where the target is – scoring a total of 60 goals in 143 appearances for debut club Independiente Medellin –  before moving to Mexican side Chiapas where he improved on that goal ratio, scoring 35 in 69 games.

Martinez’s goals prompted Porto to offer the striker a route into European football and the Colombian front-man has continued to post impressive goal scoring figures which to date has seen him notch a total of 60 goals in 91 appearances for the Portuguese side.

Like Loic Remy, Martinez is 27 years old and the out-and-out striker would provide Liverpool with another quality striking option alongside Daniel Sturridge.

Ezequiel Lavezzi

The Independent recently linked the Argentine World Cup finalist as £18million target for a move to Anfield, after reports claimed that Lavezzi is set to be offloaded in order to help fund the signing of Real Madrid star and fellow countryman Angel Di Maria.

At 29 and with Liverpool’s transfer policy well documented, it seems almost impossible that the club would pay anywhere near that amount of money for someone of Lavezzi’s current age but if he was available for the right price however, he could prove to be a shrewd signing by Rodgers.

Able to play anywhere across the forward line, the nippy Argentinian has vast amounts of Champions League experience having previously played in the competition for both Napoli and Paris Saint Germain – to whom he moved to for a fee of £24million in 2012 –  and he has scored seven goals in 19 Champions League appearances since joining the club.

Alexandre Lacazette

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJOs1MYekzg

The deal collapsing for Remy has seen some of the clubs’ fan base calling for Rodgers to head after Lyon forward and fellow Frenchman, Lacazette.At the young age of 23, he has years ahead of him and would fit in well with a youthful and progressing team that the Liverpool manager continues to build.

The French international display’s attributes that would tie in perfectly with Liverpool’s system of play, and his versatility in being able to play wide as well as centrally would be a huge buying point as the club look to replace Luis Suarez with a number of genuinely quality options.

He is a technically gifted player who has lightning pace and he is capable of gliding past opposition as well as using either foot comfortably. His awareness and intelligence on the pitch would prove to be a big plus for Liverpool, as Lacazette is a player who’s equally adept at linking play together as he is finishing it off.

The Frenchman scored 17 goals and claimed 4 assists in 44 appearances last season and he really is an excellent option and one that the club should undoubtedly target.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

As Reds everywhere desperately cling onto the hope that tentative ‘links’ with Borussia Dortmund star Marco Rues come to fruition at some stage, there is perhaps another player from Jurgen Klopp’s side that Rodgers should cast his eye over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdPWKR2yysY

25-year-old Aubameyang would again provide Liverpool with versatility in attack, as he could be deployed both as a central and a wide figure in a 4-3-3 system at Anfield. Two seasons of consistent goal scoring – leading to a total of 41 goals in 96 games for French side St Eitiene – tempted Dortmund to purchase the Gabon international.

In an impressive first season with the German club, Aubameyang registered 16 goals in 37 games in all competitions – with 13 goals and four assists coming in just 21 league starts – and he has already been linked with a move to the Premier League this summer, with Chelsea and Newcastle reportedly interested in signing him.

Edinson Cavani

Cavani may be viewed as very much a pie in the sky shout for a potential move to Anfield, but recently Sky Sports claimed that the Uruguayan striker has requested his agent to find him a suitable move to the Premier League.

The 6″2inch striker has an impressive track record in front of goal, which includes 25 goals in 43 games for current side PSG. The most prolific spell of his career came with Napoli however – where Cavani scored a staggering 104 goals in 138 appearances for the Italian club – before making a big money move to France for a fee of what is believed to be around £60 million.

With Anfield once again able to offer top European competition and with the help of a glowing reference from a certain friend and international strike partner, a move for Cavani could be something that the club explore.

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