Summer transfer rumours are running rampant about Liverpool at the moment, and if there’s one thing they’re seemingly targeting, it’s a midfielder.
Indeed, the Reds have been linked with a number of midfielders in recent weeks, but perhaps none have been more interesting than their links to Declan Rice.
Rice is undoubtedly a huge talent, hence why he’s now a fully-fledged England international. He can play at centre-half or in the midfield and he seemingly suits Liverpool’s system.
However, a player like that won’t come cheaply. West Ham value him at a minimum of £100m, and understandably, that’s likely to be a bit of a sticking point for any potential suitors.
Luckily, Michael Edwards may have sniffed out an alternative for Liverpool.
Indeed, the Reds have this week been linked with a move for Marseille’s young star Boubacar Kamara, and he seems like he could be the perfect substitute for Rice.
Much like Rice, Kamara can play as either a defensive midfielder or as a centre-back, and the pair’s statistical makeup is very similar.
Rice is known as a good ball-player, but Kamara can certainly match him up there, with his pass success rate just 2.5 per cent lower than the West Ham star’s.
The England international is also known as a tenacious tackler, but the Frenchman actually averages 0.7 more tackles per game than Rice, while his ball carrying skills are also comparable to Rice’s, completing 0.1 more dribbles per game than him, while averaging the exact same number of unsuccessful touches per game.
We don’t know exactly how much Kamara would cost, but we can imagine it would be significantly less than the £100m West Ham are asking for to sign Rice.
Indeed, Marseille reportedly wanted €40m for him last summer, and while his impressive 2020/21 season so far may have seen his valuation rise, when you consider the financial issues in Ligue 1 at the moment, it’s hard to imagine that Marseille will be pushing for anything close to what West Ham want for Rice.
This would be quite the coup for Liverpool if Michael Edwards was to get this one over the line for Liverpool.
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