It was earlier reported that Gabriel Barbosa was a real target for Liverpool in the New Year as they look to bolster their attack. The Brazilian has struggled to make an impact at Inter Milan since making a move there in 2016.
The 20-year-old has only made one appearance for the Serie A side since making a €29.5m deal from Santos but the club have now stated that they are willing to let him leave in January on loan.
As reported by Calciomercato the director of sport for the Italian side, Piero Ausilio, was quoted during an interview with Premier Sport and he stated:
“We are listening to requests of our players. Gabriel Barbosa is improving and we hope that he’ll be play a bit more in the future. We’ll be playing many games in January and he could be given some more game time next month. If, however, he wants to leave on loan, we’ll be listening to his request.”
The director also spoke about their need to sign another midfielder in January but they are cash strapped and can only bring in players on loan at the club.
A brilliant situation for the Reds to work with
Barbosa has been dubbed as the next Neymar and this revelation from the Milan club could certainly be used by the other clubs looking to add quality to their side. Liverpool certainly needs an attacker in the winter window as they would be losing Sadio Mane to the African Cup of Nations in January.
The Reds have also had to deal with a number of injuries to their top attackers this season with Daniel Sturridge struggling to make the first team this season. Danny Ings is also out for the entire campaign and the injury to Philippe Coutinho certainly has hurt the side in the past few weeks.
There is some good news with the form of Divock Origi as the young Belgian has scored five goals in his last five games, prior to the Merseyside derby. But the Reds need some cover in their attack and Barbosa could be the right man for the job.
Liverpool could look to sign him up for a few months to see what he is made off. Klopp had signed Steven Caulker as cover last season during the January window on loan and a similar policy could be taken with regards to the Brazilian.
If it works out really well, Liverpool could sign him up for good or they can send him back should things not really turn out for the best. Hopefully, the Merseyside club can bring someone in to carry on with the great work from their attack this season and make it to the Champions League next season.