One dependable switch reporter has prompt that Liverpool dropped the ball on a current Premier League signing by not pushing more durable for him over the summer time regardless of being fascinated with him.
In Could, SportBILD claimed that the Reds had eyes on a possible swoop for Brajan Gruda, who was taking part in with Mainz on the time, however the Germany under-21 playmaker as an alternative joined Brighton final month in a £25m transfer (BBC Sport).
Writing in his Reality Recordsdata for Fabrizio Romano’s Every day Briefing, Christian Falk stated that LFC had ‘knocked on the door’ for him earlier in the summertime however by no means actually pushed for him, including that, had they made their obvious curiosity ‘concrete’, they stood a robust likelihood of signing the 20-year-old.
The journalist outlined: “I heard that Liverpool had been fascinated with him and maybe they made a mistake not getting concrete with this one. That’s additionally the case for Bayern Munich, in fact! Ultimately, all of them couldn’t give him ensures for this place, however they tried. They noticed the large expertise of Gruda.
“Liverpool had been the one membership from England’s Massive Six who had been speaking with the administration, however within the center class of golf equipment in England there have been loads of sides who had been fascinated with him. If Liverpool had been concrete for Gruda, it could have been an enormous problem for Brighton to signal him.”
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Does Gruda symbolize one thing of a missed alternative for Liverpool, in mild of Falk’s revelations?
The journalist famous elswhere within the piece that Bayern Munich veteran Thomas Muller dubbed the teenager a ‘baller‘ and ‘one thing particular‘, whereas Mainz sporting director Christian Heidel described him as the most important expertise he’d seen since Leroy Sane.
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The 20-year-old doesn’t have the most important objective output for an attacking participant (4 objectives and three assists in 28 Bundesliga video games final season), however he considerably compensates for that along with his distinctive dribbling capability.
As per FBref, Gruda averaged 3.9 profitable take-ons in 2023/24, putting him within the high 3% of positional friends in Europe’s 5 principal leagues, so he definitely seems to be a footballer who can get followers off their seats along with his trickery on the ball.
Even when he mightn’t have gone straight into Arne Slot’s strongest XI at Liverpool, he would’ve represented a greater than helpful squad choice to problem for a spot within the workforce and allow common starters to get pleasure from a well-earned breather.
Perhaps the Reds ought to’ve pushed more durable for him in the summertime, however Falk hinted that Richard Hughes may ‘knock once more’ for the playmaker if he views Brighton as ‘a stepping stone to an even bigger transfer’, so maybe we shouldn’t low cost the potential of seeing him at Anfield in future years.
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