Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol says that Liverpool will be able to sign Borussia Dortmund’s highly rated Christian Pulisic, and manager Jurgen Klopp will play a crucial role in bringing the 18-year-old at Anfield.
Pulisic is one of the highly-rated young talents in German football. Despite being only 18, the winger has already featured more than 15 times for the US national team. He signed a contract extension with Dortmund back in January, but Liverpool are keen on signing him.
Nicol says that Liverpool will find it difficult to sign the player unless they receive any assistance from Klopp. The former Dortmund manager is still regarded as a legend at the club, and he may just be enough to convince the board about a potential sale.
Klopp is the only convincing element in the transfer, according to the former Liverpool player. This is because of Borussia Dortmund still being a force in German football. The club were involved in the Champions League last season and will be involved so once again in the upcoming campaign.
According to the Express, Nicol said:
“I would suggest that the Jurgen Klopp factor at Liverpool, because clearly he knew all about Pulisic, I’m sure he had some sort of relationship with Pulisic.”
“That would be the one thing other than money that would maybe make Pulisic go from Dortmund to Liverpool – that Klopp connection. If Klopp’s not at Liverpool it’s got no chance of happening.”
Liverpool, meanwhile, have reached the Champions League but will have to go through a qualification phase in order to reach the group stages. Purely on the current standing, Nicol believes that Liverpool will find it difficult to remain attractive in the eyes of Pulisic. However, the entry of Klopp could significantly change the dynamics, as the manager has already brought a lot of positivity to the club in less than two years.
Klopp seems to have identified Pulisic as a player capable of replacing Philippe Coutinho, if the Brazilian decides to move to Barcelona. Coutinho’s transfer is expected to generate a lot of funds for the Reds, but it would mean a vital player leaving the club at a crucial stage in the club’s history.
Back when we reached the Champions League group stages a couple of years ago, the exit of Luis Suarez to Barcelona proved to be a reason behind the failures in the group stages. This time around, the existing forward lineup has been significantly strengthened with the addition of players like Dominic Solanke and Mohamed Salah. It is time we sign Pulisic and strengthen our squad further.
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