Napoli midfielder, Piotr Zielinski (L), in action against Liverpool. (imago Images)
According to Italian outlet Calcio Mercato (h/t The Mirror), Liverpool have approached Napoli to make an enquiry about Piotr Zielinski. Manchester City are also cited as another English club interested in the 27-year-old Polish midfielder. The report goes on to mention Zielinski as an ‘old obsession’ of Jurgen Klopp.
The Reds won the Premier League in 2020 but needed a late surge last season to even make top-4. They would undoubtedly be targeting the title next year. So, is Zielinski a signing that can potentially help them in their trophy surge? Let us look closely at the midfield situation at Anfield ahead of next season.
One of the main talking points leading up to this summer transfer window was the future of Georginio Wijnaldum. Signed from Newcastle United in 2016, the 30-year-old ran down his Anfield contract and is no longer at the club. Instead, he will ply his trade in Ligue 1 at PSG (h/t Sky Sports).
That has left a massive, 51-appearance void in the middle of the park for the Reds. The Dutchman was an immense part of Klopp’s squad over the past 5 seasons. In a season where Liverpool suffered a massive injury crisis, Wijnaldum kept fit and made over 50 appearances for the team in all competitions.
So, how does a team replace an ever-present man like Wijnaldum? One option is promoting players from within the squad. Curtis Jones is a young player raring to make his breakthrough as a Liverpool regular, but the 20-year-old is perhaps a little too inexperienced to fit into Wijnaldum’s big boots right now.
Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are the other two options, but their injury records make them risky backups. In light of that, Zielinski could be the man Klopp needs. The Polish international has a bucketload of experience playing for a top Serie A club and has an astonishingly good injury record over the years.
According to Transfermarkt, he has only missed three matches in his entire senior career due to fitness issues, with two of them being due to Covid-19. It is something that would assure Klopp, as well as the Liverpool faithful, that Zielinski can possibly provide them with the year-long availability they used to enjoy with Wijnaldum.
As the aforementioned report by Calcio Mercato (h/t The Mirror) covers, Zielinski is an ‘old obsession’ of Klopp. That is because the Reds were seriously linked with him during his time at Udinese. So strong were the rumours that Zielinski even appeared on a television show wearing Liverpool’s kit, as captured by Canal+ (h/t Metro).
So if Klopp is indeed revisiting his interest in the 27-year-old, it could mean that he likes what he has seen from him over the years. Zielinski, who can play as a central midfielder, as a wide midfielder, and as a No.10, has made 239 appearances for Napoli in 5 years, at an average of nearly 48 appearances every season, showing his durability and quality for the club in Italy as well as in Europe.
