Leeds cannot miss golden chance to sign Liverpool’s Pedro Chirivella

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Pedro Chirivella wants to leave Premier League leaders Liverpool and he’s readymade for Marcelo Bielsa’s Championship title-chasers Leeds United.

Pedro Chirivella is an excellent passer of the ball, cool under pressure, tactically astute and a former captain of the Valencia youth team.

If Jurgen Klopp cannot find a use for him at Liverpool, apart from dragging him off the bench for the odd EFL Cup cameo, surely Marcelo Bielsa could find ways to get the best out of a player who looks a perfect fit for his possession-heavy philosophy.

Goal reported in the summer of 2018 that Leeds were interested in a sprightly Liverpool winger by the name of Ryan Kent. But a man who would eventually go on to shine at Rangers wasn’t the only Anfield youngster with admirers in West Yorkshire.

Chirivella, too, had caught the eye, despite the fact that his most recent appearance in the Liverpool first-team had come two years previously, when the likes of Brad Smith, Kevin Stewart and Sheyi Ojo were still in Klopp’s ranks.

The sample size may be small but Chirivella’s qualities shone through whenever he played, whether for Liverpool in pre-season friendlies or on loan in Holland. A deep lying playmaker whose passing range is typical of one-time Valencia starlet, Chirivella averaged a pass completion rate of 84 per cent during his spells at Go Ahead Eagles and Willem II.

A Europa League group stage clash against Bordeaux in 2015, when Brendan Rodgers was still in charge of Liverpool, saw a then-teenage Chirivella control the game with a confidence and maturity which belied his years.

On that night in France, he showed a tantalising glimpse of the kind of qualities that Bielsa loves above all else – the ability to out-pass opponents and make them dance to his tune.

He was called ‘the computer’ by former Liverpool academy chief Frank McParland thanks to his ability to read the game and predict the oppositions next move and comparisons to a young Xabi Alonso were not too wide of the mark either (Mail).

So with Chirivella telling Marca that he wants to leave Liverpool in January, his time on Merseyside coming to an end after almost seven years, this is the time for Leeds to pounce.