The Sun claims that Real Madrid have joined the race to land Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski in January. The Napoli midfielder was a long-term target of Liverpool. However, the 24-year-old has signed a new deal at Napoli which includes a release clause of £107m. (h/t Express)
Despite the whopping price, Manchester City and Liverpool are still interested in securing the services of one of the most coveted midfielders in the Serie A at the moment. On the other hand, the Italian club have slammed a huge release clause in Zielinski’s contract in an attempt to ward off interest from royal European suitors. (Express)
The German reinforced the squad with the signing of Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri. Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola seemed quite content with his current squad and only added Riyad Mahrez to bolster his attacking options.
Having pulled out of the race to sign Rabiot (Sun), Klopp should look at Piotr Zielinski to add depth to his midfield options.
On the contrary, Manchester City, despite boasting of the strongest squad in the Premier League, face a concern of some of their midfielders being on the wrong side of 30. Fernandinho, a regular starter for Guardiola, is already 33. So the manager should look to sign a long-term replacement for the Brazilian. But, as versatile a midfielder he is, Zielinski is not the perfect replacement for someone like Fernandinho.
A versatile midfielder blessed with good technique, Zielinski has shown the ability to play in a number of positions in the midfield. The Pole’s main attributes are dribbling, which attracts defenders towards him and draws fouls. His control with the ball is sensational, which allows him to drive forward and beat defenders at speed.
Another impressive thing about the 24-year-old is his good range of passing and remarkable vision to pick out the runs of his teammates in the final third. Not only is he agile and has the presence of mind to get into good positions off the ball, but also has the ability to find the back of the net from long range.
Although he can be deployed as a central defensive midfielder, he is not very good at reading the game defensively and hesitates to go into tackles. He has the habit of mistiming his challenges, which have got him into the referee’s books many a time.
Liverpool have Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to operate in the No.6 role. Naby Keita is more energetic and brings that pace in the transition from defence to the attack. Zielinski will bring that added creativity to the midfield, which will enhance the quality of the team.
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With the kind of quality that the Polish international is supposed to bring to the team, Jurgen Klopp should not hesitate to break the bank to clear the release clause and sign the player in January.