We get several mentions in the BBC gossip today. Apart from Football Insider saying what everyone knows about Nunez’s move to Saudi being blocked by the club and him being pissed off about it, there are some actual rumours, including a couple I haven’t seen previously.
Liverpool are considering an approach for Portugal international Rafael Leao, 25, but the AC Milan forward is also wanted by Barcelona . (Teamtalk)
Milos Kerkez, 21, is expected to leave Bournemouth for a new challenge in the summer and Liverpool are keeping tabs on the Hungary left-back. (Fabrizio Romano), external
Borussia Dortmund are preparing for the departure of English winger Jamie Gittens, 20, with Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham all interested. (Sky Germany - in German)
Liverpool want Wolfsburg’s Konstantinos Koulierakis, 21, but could face competition from Crystal Palace and Aston Villa for the Greece centre-back. (Caught Offside)
Leao isn’t exactly a prolific goal scorer, is he? Ten goal and eight assists in 38 games this season. More of a multi-purpose forward than a CF. Possibly a replacement for Nunez and / or Diaz if he / they were to leave.
Leão would struggle to get on the bench under Arne. He does nothing, doesn’t run, doesn’t work, doesn’t press, and he isn’t talented enough to forgive it. He’s a marginally better looking Doku.
All round, he’s not a good player and I hope he’s not the kind of player we’d ever consider. I’ll take Darwin over Rafa Leão every day,
I am not as down on Leao as all that, but your basic point seems sound to me - if you are frustrated by Darwin, Leao will drive you crazy. Seems like every game Leao has a burst or two where he shows he could be a worldbeater, and then he just doesn’t apply himself.
It isn’t really the either/or, so much as the similarities of why fans find the two players frustrating. I just don’t see Leao as being a Slot player, and he doesn’t seem particularly coachable.
At best he has stalled. Sometimes that happens with a young player and they can be spurred back into an upwards trajectory with a good move. Those players though are typically the ones who are working hard and just arent seeing the benefits of it in a stale situation. Leao is now on his second consecutive manager who has publicly challenged him over his work ethic, commitment to the team and his professionalism. He may well get back on an upwards curve, but it at this stage he’d be lucky to get anything more than a sideways move.
