Could Ligue 1 runners up Lille lose another exciting talent with Liverpool linked?
Liverpool are keeping tabs on young Belgian midfielder Jean-Pierre Longonda, according to Foot Mercato, a talented youngster who has even been compared to one-time Arsenal enforcer Abou Diaby.
Lille were almost a victim of their own success last season. 12 months after narrowly avoiding relegation from Ligue 1, Les Dogues finished second behind Paris Saint-Germain and Nicolas Pepe, Rafael Leao and Thiago Mendes have been snapped up as a result.
While Longonda might not have played a key role in Lille’s best season in years, given that he is still yet to make his mark in the first-team, he is still attracting attention from some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs.
Foot Mercato claims that Manchester United and Chelsea are interested, as are a Liverpool side who signed fellow teenagers Harvey Elliott and Sepp Van der Berg in the summer as Jurgen Klopp looks to build an exciting future at Anfield.
A defensive midfielder who can also play at centre-half, Longonda has been compared to Abou Diaby, but for all the right reasons. A former France international who spent nine years at Arsenal, Diaby is best known for the relentless injuries which ruined his career.
But that does this powerful yet elegant midfielder a disservice. He was a wonderful ball-carrier with a fabulous passing range. If Longonda can stay fit, there is no reason why he can’t follow in Diaby’s footsteps by thriving across the channel.
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