Jurgen Klopp’s journey at Liverpool has been fantastic, but they’re still missing something, and that’s the Premier League trophy. Fortunately for Klopp, his team looks closer to win its first Premier League ever, but the German boss knows he needs to add some new pieces in order to reinforce his team for the rest of the season to cover the absence they might face during this period.
Klopp assembled a very talented team this season and his side are one of the strongest candidates to win the Premier League alongside Chelsea. Liverpool have surprised a large number of people thanks to their incredible performances throughout the season and facing the end of the campaign, they want to sign quality players to become even more dangerous.
Klopp and his staff know how to pick great and not very known players to transform them in superstars later (Henrik Mkhitaryan, for example), and he has kept this “policy” since his arrival at Merseyside. Klopp knows how to develop players with great potential, and you can see he is the best doing that. However, everybody makes mistakes and Klopp might be about to make a big one if he signs this Mexican striker.
Raul Jimenez is a striker who was discovered and developed by Club América back in his country, Mexico. Jimenez showed big things during his stay with America before changing the Eagles for others. Jimenez kept showing his great game and then he signed with Atletico but nothing good happened in his journey with Diego Simeone’s team.
Now he’s plying his nails at Benfica, having a lot of teams trying to seduce him, and Liverpool is reportedly one of them. Jimenez is a young and talented player, something that Klopp likes, but those are not good enough to have a successful run in Liverpool, and less in this specific Liverpool. He certainly is a talented lad, but signing for Liverpool is unlikely to be the best decision for his career.
Raul is one of those #9 strikers, who possesses some mobility but not so much to not be considered a number 9. Liverpool counts with 5 attackers with a lot of mobility, as even Sadio Mane can play outside the rival area and not being uncomfortable with that. If Jimenez arrives at Merseyside, he will interrupt the rhythm that Liverpool is having right now, as he doesn’t have the same pace of his potential teammates.
Jimenez wouldn’t mean a significant upgrade for this Liverpool team, and seeing the characteristics of Liverpool’s strikers, it indicates that Raul will face a very difficult job in Anfield. He can play in other teams, or maybe in another league, but this frenetic Liverpool is not the right place for Jimenez. Therefore, he is a disposable signing for the Reds.
That doesn’t mean Klopp shouldn’t pursue any more offensive players during this winter transfer window, but he should be looking for a different type of player to face the second leg of the season.