After a quiet summer transfer window, Liverpool have already turned their attention towards 2025 and potentially signing one particular winger who their scouts have reportedly just watched in the Champions League.
Liverpool transfer news
Now that Arne Slot has a better understanding of his new side – an understanding that will only grow with time – it should be far easier to identify transfer targets throughout his tenure.
As Slot was finding his feet at Anfield in the summer, Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes seemed to be focusing on only landing opportunities they felt they couldn’t turn down rather than running the risk of signing a square peg for a round hole. This, of course, saw both Federico Chiesa and Giorgi Mamardashvili arrive with the latter instantly sent back on loan to Valencia as Alisson’s future heir.
Chiesa, meanwhile, made his Liverpool debut in the rather fitting San Siro as he made a swift return to Italy off the bench in the Reds’ 3-1 victory. Now, his Anfield debut is likely to be on the horizon with Liverpool playing host to Bournemouth this weekend. But as he continues to settle in, recent rumours suggest that those in Merseyside have their eye on further competition down the right-hand side.
According to Caught Offside, Liverpool took their first steps in their chase to sign Viktor Tsygankov from Girona by sending officials to watch the winger in Girona’s last-gasp defeat against Paris Sant-Germain in the Champions League.
Whether the Reds’ scouts were impressed by what they saw remains to be seen, but Slot is reportedly a fan of Tsygankov who is open to a Premier League switch amid interest from both Liverpool and Aston Villa. Now 26 years old and in his prime, it may well be now or never for the winger to complete such a move.
“Dangerous” Tsygankov is similar to Chiesa
It’s worth remembering that, as things stand, Mohamed Salah is set to leave Liverpool as a free agent at the end of the season to hand the Reds the impossible task of replacing one of the best wingers that the Premier League has ever seen.
Whilst Chiesa’s arrival will help ease that potential blow, Liverpool’s tactic may simply be to reinforce the right-hand side and spread the responsibility of replacing the Egyptian’s goals around their side. Tsygankov, is a “dangerous creator”, as described by analyst Ben Mattinson, who thrives in one-on-one situations in two similar traits to Chiesa.
With eight goals and seven assists to his name as Girona shocked Spanish football to qualify for the Champions League last season, meanwhile, it’s clear that Tsygankov is not a player who would win Premier League Golden Boots, but perhaps one who would unlock the likes of Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo, whilst failing to disrupt Liverpool’s wage bill at £23k-a-week.
