While Liverpool did give Simon Mignolet a new contract for a number of years, every Liverpool fan will be hoping that Jurgen Klopp does move for a goalkeeper in the summer and Sevilla’s Sergio Rico could be the player who signs up for the team next season.
The 22-year-old has been touted as the next David de Gea for the national side and based on his performances for the La Liga side. He did win the Europa League with the side and the next logical step for him would be to become the goalkeeper for a bigger team.
Real Madrid could be a destination for the Spaniard but Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp could well take on the youngster. We look into what makes Rico such a hot property in the world of football.
From the city of Seville to the team
Rico was born in Seville and joined the youth setup of the Sevilla team. The goalkeeper spent a lot of years in the reserve side or B team before making the step up to the senior squad in 2014. Rico actually got into the team due to the injuries of Beto and Mariano Barbosa and has not looked back ever since.
The 22-year-old has a contract till 2019 and well would cost a huge amount to bring to the Liverpool team. The Reds did pay a decent amount to bring in Alberto Moreno and this link could work well as the Reds try to shore up the goalkeeping department.
Rico is one of the taller goalkeepers in the Spanish league. At 6 feet 5 inches, the reach that Rico gets is surely greater than that of most other goalkeepers. This does help him to tip over shots which other goalkeepers would not be able to get to.
The Spanish goalkeeper also has amazing reflexes, despite his large frame, which is an added bonus as he has time and again stopped brilliant from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. This is another facet which will work great for him as he continues to get better.
There are issues regarding his consistency but that is expected for any player, especially a 22-year-old, even David de Gea struggled for large parts of his debut season for Manchester United. Liverpool needs someone who is commanding in the box but Rico isn’t someone who does a lot of that though his size in between the sticks is intimidating to other players.
He might not be the finished article yet and there are other keepers in a similar age range who are better than him, Jan Oblak is one such player who does come into this bracket, but Rico could be a shrewd signing from Klopp.
We have seen how certain players such as Divock Origi, Roberto Firmino and Dejan Lovren are shining under the German and well the Spanish goalkeeper could well be another one to do that if he does end up at Merseyside.