Liverpool table second bid: Testing Florentino Perez’s resolve for potential Mo Salah heir – report
Liverpool have allegedly tabled a second bid worth £68.5m for Rodrygo’s services.
This comes courtesy of Nacional (via Sky Sports), with it now claimed the club has improved on its first offer of £51.4m.
It’s understood, however, that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez won’t entertain the forward’s exit unless bidding reaches £85.7m.
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Is Rodrygo Mo Salah’s heir?
The Brazilian can ply his trade across the forward line, though he is primarily a right-sided winger.
With Mo Salah’s future far from certain amid ongoing reports of Saudi interest, it remains to be seen how our recruitment team will approach this conundrum.
It’s worth bearing in mind the Egyptian will likely have little interest in leaving truly competitive football – with all due respect to Saudi football – whilst still in his peak years.
In that sense, signing the 23-year-old as an understudy to the Champions League winner would make a certain degree of sense.
What do the stats say?
The Brazilian international has enjoyed a reasonably prolific season in Madrid. He’s registered 21 goal contributions in 41 games across all competitions in 2023/24.
Using Salah as a barometer of attacking proficiency, Rodrygo compares well for touches in the opponent’s box. He ranks in the 97th percentile compared to our No.11’s 98th percentile score, according to FBref.
Non-penalty xG and xAG are still a long way off our top-scorer’s levels.
That said, you’d expect there to be some serious potential to be realised at only 23 years of age.
Should Liverpool commit major money to Rodrygo?
It all very much depends, as ever, on what Liverpool’s budget looks like this summer.
There’s also Salah’s future to factor in ahead of his contract expiring in 2025.
Should the Egyptian look to take a big paycheque bump in the Middle East, we’d likely be left with the necessary cash.
If our record-breaking wide man stays, of course, we arguably have bigger priorities to meet.
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