Liverpool have set their sights firmly upon signing Sampdoria striker Patrik Schick, according to fresh reports (Orginal source: gianlucadimarzio) The Merseyside outfit are clearly in need of strengthening in the forward positions, especially considering that striker Daniel Sturridge may leave the club in the summer.
Liverpool have been going through several players capable of replacing the 27-year-old. In true Jurgen Klopp tradition, the club are not after a marquee signing who will create a lot of disruption in the squad. Instead, their focus seems heavily upon the relatively unknown Schick.
The 21-year-old has caught the attention of several clubs in Europe after his string of good performances with Sampdoria. While the club were unable to even qualify for the Europa League places after only managing to finish 10th in the table, even this finish was largely possible due to the goals from Schick. The striker managed a respectable 11 goals in just 31 league appearances this season. While his goalscoring record is more than sufficient to do the job whenever required, it appears that Liverpool are extremely attracted by the £21.5 million release clause in the player’s contract.
This is an extremely attractive sum of money considering that more and more leagues are becoming aware of the financial muscle in the PremierLeague and have been asking for ridiculous prices in order to sell their players to the English clubs.
In the case of Schick, Liverpool can do away with any negotiations with the Italian outfit since the player’s release clause is a reasonable figure. Schick ended the campaign as one of the joint top scorers at Sampdoria with Luis Muriel and Fabio Quagliarella also scoring 11 goals. At just 21 years of age, Schick is an extremely attractive prospect who can develop into Jurgen Klopp’s mould. Over the years, the German manager has had huge success in transforming many youngsters’ careers. The likes of Marco Reus and Robert Lewandowski are great examples of the manager identifying the potential within a great striker before anyone else.
Sampdoria brought Schick from Sparta Prague only last summer. The club were not expecting such a major success out of the 21-year-old, and this explains the low release clause. The Italian outfit are unlikely to offer the player a new contract in the summer, as they might just take advantage of Liverpool’s interest to sell the player for a hefty profit.
