According to Duncan Castles via the latest episode of the Transfer Window Podcast, Jurgen Klopp is personally investigating a move to Liverpool for Brighton ace Yves Bissouma.
The Reds join Arsenal with interest in the Mali international, who has earned transfer links to big clubs with his standout performances in central midfield this season.
Duncan Castles reports that the 24-year-old is seen as a replacement for Georginio Wijnaldum, who is free to leave Liverpool for nothing when his contract expires next summer.
It’s noted that Bissouma is a ‘similar’ type of player to the Dutchman, which is accurate, with the Brighton ace even outperforming Wijnaldum in many areas, which can be seen with this official PL tool.
Castles has found that Klopp is personally involved in sounding out a move for Bissouma, with the German asking ‘questions’ about the midfielder to those that ‘know him well’.
See More: Video: When Arsenal target Yves Bissouma laughed at Gunners’ faces at the Emirates as Brighton ended their top four hopes
Details on the interest in Bissouma from McGarry and Castles can be found in the second segment of their latest podcast episode:
McGarry: “Liverpool and Arsenal have both expressed an interest in Yves Bissouma.”
Castles: “Bissouma’s contract runs until 2023, so he’s getting into that danger area for the club who holds his contract – in that if they don’t sell him in the coming summer, he starts moving into the second last year and transfer value reduces drastically.”
“So Brighton will probably need to extend Bissouma’s contract or look seriously at any offers they receive for him.”
“I think if you look at Liverpool, it’s clear that Bissouma is being thought of as an option to replace Gini Wijnaldum if he leaves under freedom of contract at the end of the season.”
“He’s a similar type of player, performs a similar type of role, much younger, you mentioned the statical high rating at present – we know that’s one of the filters that Liverpool use before presenting to Jurgen Klopp as options for new signings.”
“My understanding is that Klopp has done some work to ask questions about Bissouma to people who know him well, which again would suggest that this is something Liverpool have on a potential list of replacements.”
The kind of transfer fee that would be required to land Bissouma has not been reported as of yet, but you’d have to assume that it would be more than the £15m Brighton paid in 2018, per the Guardian.
Bissouma has only missed one of Brighton’s Premier League games so far this season, he’s also featured for effectively the full 90 minutes in all but two of those fixtures.
Graham Potter’s side sit 17th and in the relegation battle, currently three points clear of danger, but are widely seen as one of the sides that play some of the most attractive football in the top-flight.