Mohamed Salah is one of Jurgen Klopp‘s priority summer targets, and the winger has one key attribute that Liverpool could particularly benefit from.
The 25-year-old is expected to join the Reds in a deal worth around £35 million this transfer window, as Klopp seeks to add more firepower to his squad.
Dovetailing with the likes of Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino, the AS Roma star could provide Liverpool with another dimension in the attacking third.
And in particular, this would come with the addition of further pace up front, as analysis from beIN SPORTS attests.
They claim that Salah sprinted 70 metres in seven seconds from a standing start in Roma’s 2-1 win over former club Fiorentina in 2015.
Extrapolating that over 100 metres, they suggest Salah would be capable of completing the distance in under 10 seconds, which could see him become one of the top eight athletic sprinters in the world.
This seems to be a rather questionable claim, but it certainly highlights just how pacy Salah is, which would boost Liverpool’s impact significantly.
The arrival of Mane from Southampton last summer gave the Reds a similar edge in attack, and the prospect of the Senegalese lining up alongside Salah is tantalising.
Sky Sports have reported that Liverpool are set to present Roma with an improved bid for Salah this weekend, after seeing their initial £28 million offer rejected.
This is likely to be closer to the Serie A side’s £35 million valuation, and should include a number of performance-based add-ons, as is often the case with big-money deals.
Salah is believed to have already agreed personal terms with the Reds, and reports in his native Egypt have claimed he is set to travel to Merseyside on Tuesday for a medical.
Whether this is accurate remains to be seen, but it would seem that Liverpool’s primary focus at this stage is securing Salah’s services.
Klopp is set to spend big in the transfer market as he prepares for a busy 2017/18 campaign that could include a return to the Champions League, with a play-off clash set for August.
A deal for Southampton‘s Virgil van Dijk broke down earlier in June, but could be revived, while Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain both remain key targets for the German.
If Liverpool fail to sign Salah, Sporting CP’s Gelson Martins is one of their alternatives, along with Bayern Munich’s Douglas Costa and Lazio’s Balde Keita.
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