Why A Move For This Italian Forward At The End Of The Season Could Be Vital For Liverpool And Klopp

Liverpool have been one of the finest attacking units this season. But they have lost their star man Sadio Mane to the African cup of Nations, where he is representing Senegal. That is sure to be a blow to Jurgen Klopp, for whom Mane has been excellent. That combined with the fact that Klopp doesn’t trust Sturridge, means that Liverpool might be on the lookout for attacking re-enforcements in the January transfer window.

Such a search has taken them to Italy, where Domenico Berardi of Sassuolo is interesting the Reds. Despite being only 22, Berardi is already in his 5^th season with the club. Having helped them gain promotion to the Serie A in 2012, he has played a huge role in keeping them in that division. Along the way, Berardi has performed admirably and has scored two hat tricks against AC Milan, one of which was a 4-goal haul, a feat achieved by no one before against the Italian giants.

In 2013, Sassuolo entered into a co-ownership deal with Juventus for Berardi, but the co-ownership method of transferring players has been scratched off owing to corruption and misinterpreted figures of transfer fees. Nevertheless, the Old Lady still retain the first option on Berardi, something they can activate by exchanging a sum of 22 million pounds.

Inter Milan are also said to be in the hunt for Berardi, as they look to strengthen their weak attacking unit. But Liverpool will be looking to take a march on all these clubs by putting in a firm bid that could entice Berardi to move to Anfield. It was mooted that a move could be made this January, owing to Liverpool’s deficiency and shortage in numbers in attack, but Berardi has just returned from a 4-month long absence owing to knee ligament damage.

So any move is likely to be postponed until the summer when Berardi is likely to have gained back much of his match fitness. Berardi’s strong points are his strength, pace and ability to get into good attacking positions. He likes lining up on the right wing, from where he prefers to cut in and have a go at the opposition defenders. That would definitely add something different to Liverpool’s attack, which has looked goal-shy at times this season.

Although Firmino did a fine job there, Liverpool have only Origi and Sturridge in reserve and this could dent Liverpool’s hopes of winning the title. Any move for Berardi is likely to be beneficial as he has the ability to play on either wing or as a second striker/ trequartista (withdrawn forward).

During his time at Sassuolo, Berardi has shown that he is capable of getting on the scoresheet regularly, as well as assisting his teammates. His ability to score and assist regularly from wide areas is a major asset, averaging a direct goal contribution every 106.3 minutes in all competitions throughout his career.

Any hopes of him moving out of Sassuolo in this window could be fantasy football, but a move in the summer is definitely possible and Liverpool should look to get to the front of the queue of the clubs waiting to sign him up. Klopp should begin to look for enforcements ahead of the 2017/2018 season and Berardi could be one of his main targets.

Berardi’s physical attributes show that he can be a success in the Premier League, as long as he signs for the right club. In Liverpool and Anfield, he could find his happy place and establish himself as one of the finest wide attackers in world football.