Liverpool opted to sign Diogo Jota rather than Jeremy Doku during the summer but, according to Het Laaste Nieuws, the Premier League champions are keeping a close eye on the Belgium international’s progress at Rennes.
While Jota already looks another masterful bit of business from a club that does recruitment better than anyone in Europe, the £40 million Portugal international wasn’t the only sprightly winger on the Reds’ radar earlier this year.
It’s common knowledge Liverpool considered Ismaila Sarr, the Watford wide man who tore Virgil van Dijk and co apart during a 3-0 defeat at Vicarage Road, which feels even more surreal now than it did on that bitterly cold February night in Hertfordshire.
HLN, meanwhile, claims Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League champions also considered offering Doku a chance to swap Anderlecht for Anfield, before deciding Jota represented a more experienced, safer option.
That’s not to say Doku won’t be flying down the flanks on the red half of Merseyside one day.
The Belgium international joined Rennes in a £27 million deal instead but, according to HLN, Liverpool haven’t forgotten about him.
However, it’s fair to say with no goals or assists in nine appearances so far, a jet-heeled forward Kevin de Bruyne called a “diamond in the rough” isn’t exactly sparkling in Brittany.
Interestingly, Liverpool tried to lure Doku away from the esteemed Anderlecht academy in 2018.
HLN reports the then 16-year-old was given a personal tour of Melwood, meeting the likes of Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and Jurgen Klopp himself.
The German believes Doku could eventually be Sadio Mane’s successor but, as the player’s father told Het Nieuwsblad recently, he felt staying in Belgium for a few more years would be more beneficial to his development.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
